Warlock
by Marsdog
Summary: I was just an ordinary schoolboy until an tragic accident where I discovered my ability to magic something only a witch can use, join my on my adventure to Britannian where I train and fight alongside the legendary 501st JFW and learn to harness my newly found powers.
1. Accidents Happen

I wake up to the rising sun as the first light of drawn hits my eyes magnified by my window. The sun light isn't the only thing that wakes me up, the ships and dock workers in the military docks below make a racket so loud that it will rise the dead. Ship horns, truck horns and the shouts of the workers always make sure I can never get back to sleep in the morning.

Why did the Neuroi have to show up and annihilate most of Europe?

Before the Neuroi shown up this used to be a peaceful fishing village where the boats would run so quietly that you would near even know they were on unless you were on the lookout for them. No because of those Neuroi this harbour is bristling with war ships of all shapes and sizes whose engines run so loud that I can feel them shake my home at times. All well I might as well get up anyway, my alarm is set to go off in less than ten minutes anyway so there's no point in attempting to get back to sleep even if I could somehow with all the noise outside.

I'm Shinji Kato by the way a sixteen year old boy and I live with my mother Rie who's thirty-four and younger sister Miyo who's twelve in Yokosuka and unfortunately like I said we live right across the street from the harbour. My father Tetsuhiko was in the Navy but went missing two years ago in Europe after his ship sank during the evacuation at Dunkirk, I have no idea whether he is alive or dead and will probably only learn the answer when I too make the journey to the other side.

It's my last day of school today, my last day and I can hardly wait to get it over with. I'm not cut out for school unlike my little sis who loves it and can hardly wait to go. To be honest I hate school, my grades are low and my altitude to learning is even lower. The only thing I show any interested in is sports and athletics, many because that's all I can do and excel at. If it was up to me I would never have attended school in the first place.

I learned more on the street then I ever did at school. I learned how to sell goods at the marked, how to play the violin when my neighbour babysat me and learned how to fight from countless fights in the streets and schoolyard. In this town that's all you need to survive and that's all I'm contempt on learning despite my teachers intentions.

I slowly get up and put on my uniform, a black jacket, T-shirt, trousers, socks and shoes are what I'm required to wear and the only reason I have to wear them is because my mother won't let me eat until I put them on. I look into the mirror to make sure everything is ok with my face and find my blue eyes staring right back at me and my short black hair in perfect condition despite the fact that I just woke up.

Once I'm dressed I make my way to the kitchen and find my sister already up wear a white apron on top of her uniform, a white sails top and blue swimsuit underneath. Looks like my timing was perfect as by the looks of thing Miyo is just starting to dish up breakfast. My sisters long black hair is tied up in a ponytail and her grey eyes are focused on her task at hand.

"Something smells good" I say as I sit down next to my mother who is currently sowing a pair of trousers that I tore yesterday.

"Well I hope you like it because today I had to use left over rice so for breakfast is Kayu" Miyo replies with a sweet smile as she brings the food over to the table, first mine and mothers and then she went back to get her own before we all sit down as a family to eat breakfast.

"I'm sure it will be delicious as always" I tell her as she makes herself comfortable in front of her food, there's one thing my sister can be counted on and that's that her food always tastes like heaven. She hasn't let me down with her cooking yet and today is no different as the first bite of her food floods my taste buds with delicious flavours. "Like I thought you food is as good as it always is"

"Thanks bro" She says in return as a big proud smile grows on her face.

"While it's nice to see you two getting along" My mother says joining in on the conversation her blue eyes brighter than mine sparkle as she says it. My grandmother is from Gallia, me and my mother has her blue eyes but my mother also got her blond hair which she keeps at shoulder lengths "It's so nice to see you two getting along as I'm sure most siblings normally argue and bicker"

"When have we ever fought?" I ask her.

"Yeah mother we never even had an argument in our lives" Miyo adds giving me a playful punch on the arm.

"That's what I meant, you two have never done anything mean to each other" Mother answers with a smile of pride on her face. "You two are such good kids and from what I hear from other mums you treat each other better than their children do"

"Well that's because we get along so well and aren't around each other long enough to start arguing" I tell her as I finish my delish breakfast making sure every last drop was safely transported through my mouth and into my stomach. "Anyway I have to go to school now"

"Have a good day dear" My mother tells me as I walk out of the room.

"Wait up bro" Miyo calls after me as I'm just about to leave. "Here take this"

She drops a neckless in my hand, as I look it over I see a small silver dog head encircled by a silver circle, the dogs head is attached to it by its tall pointy ears, nose and neck. This most of cost her a small fortune and she's just giving it to me, it's not my birthday or any special occasion so I don't know why she would buy me such an expensive gift.

"How could you afford this?" Is he only thing that comes out of my mouth as I continue to stare at the dogs head.

"Don't worry about it I got it for free, won it in a competition yesterday so you don't have to worry about the price" She answers has her hands close my hand around the cold silver neckless. "I didn't won't it so I thought you might"

"Well thanks sis" I say using my spare hand to rub the top of her hair. "Well I really have to go now or I'll be late"

"Ok see you later" Miyo says as I open the front door.

"Goodbye and thanks again" I reply giving her a warm smile as I walk out into the busy streets of Yokosuka or should I say street as the only road with any traffic is the one right outside my home.

My schools quite the walk away, my sister is a lot luckier as her school is just outside of town where as I need to catch a bus to get to mine. There used to be a school in town but ever since the Neuroi shown up that school closed down after all of the teachers got drafted, thanks to that I have an hour's bus ride and half an hour walk to take every day while as my sister only has a twenty minute walk. Just another reason why I hate school.

At least the weathers nice to today, nice and warm with a pleasant cool breeze to stop you from getting to hot. The street outside my home is crowed with trucks and men walking to and from the harbour but thankfully the further I get away from the harbour the less crowed and busy the streets become and the noise that helped wake me up this morning fades into the background.

Pretty soon I leave town all together after about ten minutes of walking and apart from the occasional ship horn all I can hear are he songs of the birds and leafs blowing in the wind. It takes another ten minutes from this point to get to the bus stop.

I really wish it was closer to town

The bus stop isn't anything special ever, just a small bench and sign along a rod in the middle of nowhere, at least I don't have to wait long as the bus is due any minute now. From here you cannot even see or hear the noisy harbour of Yokosuka, if you didn't know the town is here you can easily drive right on by it.

The bus as always arrives on time, I can see it now getting closer and closer to the stop and me. The bus is an old run-down relic with chipped and scratched paint, only one working head lamp and several windows along the side of the bus are missing with the rest badly creaked. The bus pulls up and I get on show the drive my pass getting a nod in response as I find a spare seat amongst the other students on board. The inside of the bus is no better than the outside as all of the seats are torn and stained. The ride on the bus is bumpy due to the bad roads around the harbour and the bad shape of the bus, combine this with the current state of the seats and it makes for on hell of an uncomfortable ride.

I have to endure the unendurable for just over an hour having every bone and organ in my body shaken to braking point and every millimetre of skin poked, cut and scratched by springs sticking out of the chair. Finally after what felt like a lifetime in hell the bus mercifully pulls up at the stop nearest my school, now it's only another ten minutes' walk to get to my school.

"Hey Shinji wait up" Someone calls from behind me and I turn round to find my best friend Darrin Wilford. He came here two years ago from Britannia and we instantly became friends, he told me about the Neuroi's constant attacks and the destruction they spread throughout Europe which is the main reason why his family moved here.

"Morning Darrin" I reply as he catches up to me. "Got anything from your dad?"

I ask him this as his father is currently a commander of a squad of Churchill Tanks in North Africa risking his life on a daily bases so his family can live peacefully within Fuso. I meet his father once before when he visited on leave, he's a stronger hard working man with brains that could rival even the best tacticians in the world. Darrin is a spitting image of his dad, they both have short brown hair, grey eyes and they share the same birthmark on their left check.

"Yes a letter arrived yesterday from him not long after I got home from school, he says that his squad destroyed a ground type Neuroi in a battle without suffering any casualties in the process" Darrin answers with a voice full of pride and admiration for his father, if it was a letter from any other soldier I would believe that someone edited it along the way but that achievement sounds like something his dad could pull off. "Also he says that he is going to be rewarded the Knight/Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Britannian Empire next week for his past victories"

"That's great he sure earned it after everything he's done for Britannia and the world" I reply with a small smile. "But before we celebrate we have to get through our daily torture"

"Ha… Yeah it's a pity the war couldn't get us out of this hellhole" Darrin says with a slight snicker. "Well let's just get it over with"

Darrin hates school just as much as I do, that's how we became friends actually after both of us got detention for not doing any work. We ended up jumping out of a window and running across the fields surrounding the school while the teacher scouts and threatens us, even resorting to throw blackboard erasers at us as we fled hitting Darrin in the centre of his back.

A school assembly is all we have to do today during which the Principle would give a speech saying how much we will be missed, say what an honour it was for him to know us and the wish us luck for the future but for some reason I don't think he was on about me and Darrin as all we would do was cause trouble and not pay attention ending with a very long chat with him on a number of occasions.

After the speech came the awards where everyone was giving rewards for attendance, behaviour and followed by everyone being given their grades. Surprisingly I got some good grades and the highest grade in the school for my science but Darrin's grades were below average, knowing him though he could probably talk his way into a decent job. After we were given our grades we were free to leave and I and Darrin didn't waste any time making sure we were the first to leave getting some disappointing looks from the teachers at our eagerness to leave.

"Was there any point of coming in today? I spent more time traveling then I did back there" I say as we walk to the bus stop. "And then what we did was pointless"

"Yeah I hear you mate" Darrin replies with a sigh. "If I'd have known it would have been so boring then I wouldn't have come in today, so what are you up to today?"

"I don't know but I think I'll go jogging" I answer. "What do you have planned?"

"My mother's got me on babysitting duty so I have to go straight home" Darrin say's with another sigh and a shake of his head. "So that means my little sis and brother will be running riot all day and all night"

"While it sounds like your whole days going to suck" I tease him with a light pat on the back.

"Yeah but at least I don't have to be killed on my way home" He says with a nod towards the bus station. "My whole day can't be as bad as your ride home"

"You got me there because I would rather watch those to demons then ride the bus" I reply as my body stiffens to the thought of being shaken and scratched to death fill my head. "You'll have to admit that your day is a good day after a ride on that death trap"

"Yeah but I get a nice short walk back home instead of a long uncomfortable one" Darrin says as he leaves me on the bus stop. "See you later"

"Yeah goodbye" I call after him.

Less than a minute later the bus arrives and being the first person to arrive at the stop I get the pick of seats and after years of riding this bus I know which seat is the most comfortable, the second row left side window seat. The bus waits for round about ten minutes slowly filling up with students until it's cramped and I'm squished against the window but finally ten minutes after I first stepped on the bus the bus finally leaves the stop.

This bus ride is just as bad as the first with the only difference being scrapping feeling has been replaced by the feeling of being crushed, the bus ride is still just as bone shatteringly bumpy and despite the seat I'm on being the best seat on the bus it's still incredibly uncomfortable but more endurable then this morning.

To be honest this is normally the best part of my day, the time of day when I get out of the death trap of a bus and begin my walk home. The walk home is the perfect way to stay in shape and the view of the Yokosuka harbor makes the long tiring walk worthwhile. On the best of days when he sun is shining you can almost see the sea sparkling and birds sawing high above me but unfortunately the sky today is covered in thick clouds stopping the sun rays from hitting the water and from me seeing the birds fly high above my head. But the weather is still nice and I'm glad that it's not raining because this road offers zero protection from the rain and I learned the hard way after trying to walk home through a thunderstorm.

This walk is the highlight... My trail of thought is suddenly cut off as something slams hard into my back sending me flying into a nearby field and putting my back in agony. I land hard in a nearby field with the force of impact knocking every last gasp of air out of my body, I try to move but find myself unable to and with each attempt to move comes a wave of agonizing pain through my body. Not long after I hit the ground two blurry figures stand over me, one of them must be a witch as some kind of animal ears appear on her head and just as my world turns to darkness a blue light emits from her body.

* * *

><p><strong>I found this chapter by chance on a USB stick and almost deleted it to make room for course work, I'm glad I didn't and I hope you are too.<strong>


	2. Recruitment

My head hurts, my back hurts and I feel weak. I open my eyes to find the world around me just as blurry as when I blacked out, someone is looking down on me and I'm indoors, this much I can be sure of. Slowly but surely the blurry figure beside me comes into view, it's a women with long black hair, brown eyes but on is behind an eye patch and she is wearing a white Navy officers Uniform on top of a blue swimsuit. She looks at me with a small smile on her face but once she starts to speak I know in an instant that she can't be smiling because she's glad I'm awake.

"Good to see you are finally awake Kato" She says in a voice that's full of authority and demands respect. "You've been out cold for a few hours and had your sister worried"

"Who are you and what happened?" I ask still hurting and confused over what happened. "Where am I?"

"You're awfully questionable despite only just waking up" She says. "I'll answer your questions if you join me in going to Britannia and fighting the Neuroi, someone like you can make a real difference in the war"

"How can I make a difference I'm just a man?" I answer as I try to sit up only to have the pain in my back and the women's arm force me back down. "If men like me could make a real difference in the war then it would already be over"

"So you really don't know?" The women say's as the smile fads from her face. "To be honest I just thought you hid it from your family because your sister didn't have a clue about your abilities"

"What are you on about and where is my sister?" I ask getting more questions than answers from this women. Where is my sis? If she was here then my questions will be answered and my confusion vanished. "Where is Miyo?"

"Relax she's asleep in the next room along with her friend Yoshika Miyafuji who saved your life" She tells me sounding like she's full of pride for the girl. "Her grandpa ran you over and brought you here to the Miyafuji Clinic, Yoshika did enough healing with her magic before you arrived but she had trouble controlling her power and passed out, her mother and grandma finished your treatment and did such a good job that you won't have any scaring"

"I suppose I should thank her when she wakes up"

"Yes you should" She replies as a look of determination fills her face. "So as I was saying I want you to join me in Britannia fighting with the 501st Joint Fighter Wing"

"That's a witch squad if I'm not mistaken so how am I meant to fight alongside them?" I ask in return but her facial expression doesn't change so I can't tell if she is disappointed, joking or glad that I turned down her offer. "I'm not a witch"

"Yes you're not a witch but you still can use magic like one" The women states. "I seen it myself along with everyone else including your sister saw your familiar after the accident"

"You must be mistaken I can't use..." I start to correct her but freeze when I notice that she's drawn her katana and is raising it above my head. She swings her blade down so fast that I can barely keep track of the blade, out of instinct I raise my hands to try to protect myself. "No wait!"

I close my eyes waiting for the blade to cut through my arm like a hot knife through butter, waiting for my blood to gush out of my chest as the blade slices through it and waiting for the blade to come and end my life. But that doesn't happen. After seconds of waiting for death to take me and the warmth of my blood to coat my body I open my eye's to see he blade stopped dead in its tracks by a shield. The shield has a witches star in the middle surrounded by runes that I can't even begin to imagine what they say, the katana is stuck pressed against my shield as the women tries desperately to slice through it but all she accomplishes is to make a few sparks against my the shield.

"If you can't use magic then how come you're still alive?" The women asks me in a friendly tone that makes her sound more like a long term friend than someone who just tried to kill me. "You can't deny it now"

"You… You are crazy!" I shout at her angry at the fact that she was willing to kill me to prove her point. "You could have killed me!"

"Hah hah hah, don't worry I would have stop my blade before it reached you" The women says in a voice that sounds serous but her laugh leads me to believe that she is mocking me. "To be honest I thought your shield would shatter when I struck it like it did to so many other witches in the past. My sword was made of steel infused with magic and only the strongest witches can block it, so I see a bright future ahead of you in the 501st"

"Why would I want to join you anyway?" I ask her still mad at what she just did. "You already tried to kill me, told me something that changes my entire life and you want to separate me from my sister and mother!"

As I say those last words I slam both of my fists into the ground both of my fists burst into flames starting a small fire ever side of me and forcing the women to jump out of the way as the fire starts to spread. I somehow manage to crawl from where I was laying before the flames engulf that area as well, luckily the fire doesn't spread any further as that women returns with my sister, another girl and two older ladies with buckets of water and they manage to extinguish the flames before they burn the building down.

"What happened in here?" An old lady asks as she surveys the damage done by the fire. The damage isn't that bad, only a few black scorch marks on the floor with the worst scorch being where my fists struck the ground.

"Kato lost control of his powers" The women answers looking impressed at the damage she sees as she sells me out. "He has more power than I thought and very little control over it"

"Hey bro is it true that you can use magic" Miyo asks as she kneels down beside me. "I didn't think men could be witches"

"Most can't but throughout history some men have been known to use magic" The women tells her. "Oda Nobunaga the man who united Fuso was one of them, Merlin was another one and he helped King Arthur defend Britannia from a Saxon invasion and Robin Hood who robbed the rich and gave to the poor was another man from Britannia that could use magic"

"Wow so I guess you're going to be famous bro" Miyo says turning round to face me once again. "I don' know whether I should be happy for you or sad"

"Well you should be happy for him in my opinion and if he agrees to join me I will make him a Warlock you and your mother could be proud of" The women says still trying to recruit me.

"Where are you taking him and who are you?" My sis asks her as she stand between me and the women who tried to kill me to prove a point. "I won't let my bro go with anyone without a good reason"

"I'm sorry it was rude of me not to introduce myself" She answers as she stands up. "I am Major Mio Sakamoto of the Imperial Navy and second in command of the 501st Joint fighter Wing, I want to recruit your brother and Yoshika Miyafuji here and take them with me to Britannia"

Everyone in the room falls silent as Sakamoto's words sink in, she doesn't only want to take me away from my family to a foreign country halfway around the world but this girl too. The two older woman which I'm guessing is Yoshika's grandma and mother look horrified at the news and my sister just stands there perfectly still with her back turned to me so I can't see her reaction but I am guess it is the same as the other two women. Yoshika looks stunned at the news and her mouth is moving making her look like she's trying to say something but no words leave her mouth.

"You can't take my brother away to fight!" Miyo almost shouts as tears start to drip down her face. "We already lost our father to the war and you're not taking away my brother!"

Sakamoto seems unfazed at this and calmly smiles and places her hands on Miyo's shoulders. "It's good that you care so much about your brother and want to keep him safe but you don't have to worry as I am not drafting him I'm only offering him a place, it's up to him to decide whether he goes or not" She tells her in a calm voice that instantly calms Miyo down before she turns her attention on me. "Kato if you choose to join me then meet me at the entrance to the port tomorrow morning, if you're not there by ten then I will assume that you decided not to go, the same goes for you Miyafuji"

"I'm sorry but I don't won't any part of this war ever" Yoshika says as Sakamoto walks past her.

"Well I suggest you sleep on it and meet me at the entrance to the port tomorrow morning if you change your mind" Sakamoto replies as she leaves the clinic.

As soon as Sakamoto leaves silence once again fills the air as everyone falls into deep thought. Everyone in the room ever has ever a look of concern on their faces apart from Yoshika who looks a bit mad and me that I'm guessing by what I am feeling right now has a look of confusion on my face. I have never been more bombarded with information in my life, first they tell me I have been in an accident, second they tell me I'm a Warlock and then this Sakamoto women tries to recruit me into the military.

This has got to be ever the worst or best day of my life, I can use magic now but because of that Sakamoto wants to take me away from my family. I look across the room again to find that everyone but Miyo has left the room, Miyo has turned her gaze towards me with her eyes still wet from crying and her worry and fear are written all over her face.

"Bro please don't leave me like dad did" Miyo pleads as she hugs me and once again burst into tears loudly sobbing on my shoulder. "I can't loss you as well so please, please don't go"

"It's ok Miyo I won't leave you" I reply as gently rub her back calming her down a bit but failing to stop her tears all together, that's strange as every time I did this in the past it normally calms her down within seconds so now I know that she must be really upset and worried about losing me. "Miyo calm down I'm not going anywhere and I promise I won't leave you"

"Do… Do you really mean it" Miyo says as her tears stop all together.

"Yes I mean it" I tell her and I can almost feel her calm down completely as those words leave my mouth. "I won't leave you"

After about another ten minutes Miyo's calmed down enough and dried her tears so we can leave the clinic and go home. The Miyafuji's were very friendly and when I asked about costs and offered to pay they tell that the Imperial Army will be taken up the bill, I have a feeling that Sakamoto will probably use that to get me to join her in Britannia.

On the way back I see the weather hasn't changed and is still cloudy but the wind has picked up quite a bit since I ended up unconscious. The breeze is perfect, it keeps me cool in the warmth of the setting sun. Miyo is walking beside me silently keeping pace with me with her head down, she's probably still worried about me despite my reassurance that I won't leave her. Who is that Sakamoto and what right does she have to take me away from my mother and sister after the death of my father even after my sister's tear filled plea she still asked me to go with her.

The Miyafuji Clinic wasn't that far from town so the walk back home only takes about ten minutes for us to walk back home. When we arrive home our mother is stood in the doorway waiting for us with a look of worry on her face, somehow I get the feeling that she knows already about Sakamoto trying to recruit me.

"Shinji s it true that you are joining the military?" My mum says as she rushes at us from where she stands at a speed that I didn't think was possible for her to reach, as soon as she reaches me she places on of her hands on each of my shoulder forcing me to look her in the eyes. "A Miss Sakamoto came over to tell me your were fine and at the Miyafuji Clinic before saying that she was going to recruit you"

"Don't worry I won't leave" I tell her. "I will not join the military"

"Shinji I actually want you to join" Mother says catching both myself and Miyo by surprise.

"How can you say that?" Miyo asks becoming just as angry and terrified as she did when Sakamoto tried to recruit me. "We already lost dad and now you want to risk losing Shinji"

"It's because of your father that I want him to go, Shinji if you go then you might found out what happened to him" She replies as her hands release my shoulders. "Would you at least consider it?"

"Wow I never thought of it like that" I answer thinking over what she just said, I never thought of it that way. My father who went missing two years ago could be alive and well in a hospital somewhere or unable to get in contact with us and I could find him, I could see him after morning and grieving over him for the last two years. "Ok I'll sleep on it"

"Bro you can't be serious" Miyo says with clear alarm in her voice. "Please don't you promised you wouldn't go you promised"

"I know I did but Miyo we could see dad again if I go" I tell her but my words only get a wave of tears in response from Miyo. "Miyo calm down I don't plan on dying any time soon"

"But you will, I know you Shinji you been waiting for dad to return ever since her left" Miyo says as tears continue to flood out of her eyes. "You will go now there is a chance that you can find him, but you'll die if you go. You'll go and not come back just like dad did"

"Miyo I haven't decided whether I am going yet" I reply but her tears continue to full.

We move our conversation into our house and it continues to go round and round in circles with my mother trying to convince me to go and my sister trying to convince me to stay, a talks go on for hours repeating and repeating themselves until the sun is long gone from the skies and the moon is high in the sky. Finally at around midnight Image to talk them into letting me sleep on it and I finally fall asleep not even giving it any thought.

I wake up after a dreamless sleep at eight o'clock and instantly I know what I must do, I am going to Britannia with that Sakamoto women to find my farther. I guess Miyo was right when she said that I have been waiting for my dad's return as now a chance to find him has appeared I can't force myself to pass it up, Miyo will be said but at least mum will be there for her when I'm gone.

I get dressed and walk down stairs and find both my mother and sister waiting for me with breakfast already on the table, Miyo has made Kayu again from the left over rice of last night's dinner. Both my sister and mother look at me with looks of worry and anticipation on their faces as I sit down at my normal spot at the table.

"So what have you decided to do Shinji?" My mother asks as soon as I sit down.

"Yes I've decided" I pause and take a deep breath before continuing. "I decided to go to Britannia with Sakamoto"

"Please Shinji don't…" Miyo starts to plead but I stop her short my covering her mouth with my hand, I may have stopped her voice but tears once again drip down from her eyes and onto my hand.

"Miyo I've made up my mind about this already so please don't make my goodbye anymore sad then it already is" I tells and in an instant I can feel her calm down enough that I feel it's safe to remove my hand from over her mouth. "Don't worry I will return and hopefully with dad"

"Ok bro if you are sure about this then I won't try to stop you" She replies in a depressed voice that desperately tells me to change my mind and stay.

"I'm proud of you Shinji, joining the military is such a huge step and I can't express how proud I am that you are joining" My mouther tells me, I always known my mouther respected and admired the soldiers, sailors and pilots of Fuso which is probably why she married my father a sailor in the Navy so I already know she was going to say something along those lines. "Be safe Shinji and come back to us alive and well"

After that we ate our breakfast in silence with the only sounds being the scrapping of our bowls and Miyo's silent crying which despite both mine and mother best efforts won't end. After we've finished breakfast its nine o'clock and I decide it's now time for me to leave, Miyo starts to try and stop me but mother stops her by embracing her in a warm comforting hug.

"Be safe Shinji we will be there to see the ships of so be sure to give us a wave from the deck just like your father did" Mother says as she continues to hold Miyo back.

"I will be mum, bye Miyo" I reply as I open the front door.

"Bye dear" Mum says back with a big warm smile.

"Bye Shinji" Miyo says right after but her face tells me she wants to say more.

I leave the house after our goodbyes and head across the street to the entrance of the docks and just like she said Major Sakamoto is waiting for me but there's someone else there that does surprise me, Yoshika Miyafuji who I never thought in a million years would be here. Yoshika to me doesn't look like a soldier and to be honest judging by the way she looks I don't think she is cut out to be soldier, she seems more of the helping and healing kind of person rather than the destructive ruthless kind of person a soldier needs to be combat.


	3. Setting Sail

The Carrier Akagi is a huge ship towering over the rest of the warships in the harbor looking like she's nearly ready for launch as two aircraft land on her deck. The three of us, Sakamoto, Miyafuji and Myself into the shadow of the ship and up the waiting gang plank. We join a line of crew in white uniforms standby moving onto the ship, as I walk up the gang plank I turn my head and see the crowd of family and friends gathering on the dock below waving and shouting their goodbyes at the boarding crew. I can't spot my mother or sis anywhere in the crowd as I board but I'm not worried yet, the crowd has only just started to arrive and from my position of looking over the shoulders of the man behind me I can't see every member of the crowd.

Once we are on board Sakamoto leads us up to the deck and the edge of the ship where we can look down and see every member of the crowd below. I scan the crowd for a familiar face but the only ones I see don't belong to my family, my neighbors and several people from the market are here but my family haven't arrived yet. The ships start to move before I can spot them and now I start to worry that they won't make an appearance but then I spot her, my sister Miyo stood next to my mother at the end of the crowd. When they spot me Miyo waves and smiles but I know it's just a front and one of her fake smiles by the look of sadness and concern in her eyes. My mother smiles at me putting her hands on Miyo's shoulders reassuring her that she see me again which takes some of the worry and sadness out of her eyes but not all of it and that causes an sadness within me that hurts my heart.

Looking to my side I see Miyafuji run up to and learn of the railing looking at her mother and grandmother which I recognize from the clinic and a small dark haired girl who's running alongside the ship.

"Michiko, I miss you so much take care ok!" Miyafuji shouts over the railing, her family below shout back in reply but whatever they say are lost in the sea of sound, cheering and shouting that nearly deafens me block out any response that her family makes and I can't even tell whether my family is shouting or not in this racket so I just wave back knowing that anything I say won't reach their ears. Miyafuji however doesn't seem to realize this and continues to shout. "I'll be back!"

With those last words cutting through the sea of noise I'm sure people in Britannia would o hard them and I'm pretty sure if I would have been stood next to her I would have gone deaf, man that girl can shout. Sakamoto doesn't wave or shout out to anyone in the docks below us nor does anyone shout out for her, all she does is watch me and Miyafuji say and wave goodbye to our families patiently waiting for us to finish. She waits until Fuso disappears over the horizon in the ships wake before she speaks up.

"Ok now then if you two would follow me I'll give you a tour of the ship" Sakamoto says as she gestures with her hands for me and Miyafuji to enter the ship through a nearby metal door that looked like it weighed a tone. "Of cause I won't be able to show you everywhere onboard but I'll show you the rooms you'll need to know whilst onboard"

"Lead the way" I reply gesturing for her to walk through the door first which she immediately does, I hold the door open for Miyafuji who thanks me as she walks through before I follow after them letting the metal door swing shut. "So where are we heading first?"

"To our room so we can drop off our stuff" Sakamoto answers not even bothering to turn round as she leads us through the metal maze of the ship interior. "Unfortunately we three will have to share a room since his ship was over crowded to begin with so we have no say in the matter"

"But we're girls and Kato is a boy" Miyafuji points out as we continue to walk deeper into the metal maze.

"I know that Miyafuji but we have no choice" Sakamoto tells her this time stopping and turning round to face her. "That brings me to a rule we should follow during this trip: Everyone must knock before entering so we don't walk into each other while changing cloths"

"Oh while ok" Miyafuji says still not sounding like she's onboard with the idea.

"Is that acceptable Kato?" She then asks me staring into me with her one eye not covered by an eye patch like she's looking deep into my soul.

"Yes ma'am" I say with a mock salute which almost makes her smirk but definitely isn't something she thinks is acceptable.

"Please just call me Sakamoto I hate being called ma'am, it makes me feel old. Miyafuji, the same goes to you" Sakamoto says before she gives me a one eyed stare that sends chills down my spine and forces me to fight the urge to shake in fear. "I don't expect you to salute me but if you do please do it properly" I nod in response not trusting myself to keep a steady voice if I answer her vocally. "Good so now on with the tour"

What is it with her stare? I have never felt like that before when anyone else stared at me when I did something wrong and she managed to render me useless just with one one-eyed stare. She speaks with such authority and her stare was filled with so much confidences that it's no wander I feel scared from just that little stare unless, unless she is hiding something under that eye patch of hers that is causing me to feel this afraid of her. Yeah that must be it she has some sort of magical ability that inflicts fear into whoever she chooses, there's no way someone like her could have scared me otherwise.

The cabin we've been given has two bunk beds already made up for us, the porthole gives light into the room through a single light beam that is clearly visible, four metal storage boxes the same color of the ship walls are in the room with two under each bunk bed and a small light dangles from the ceiling. The room was small with only enough room for us three to stand in and the grey steel walls makes the room feel cold despite the warmth of the day outside.

"We each get a single storage box so leave your stuff in them" Sakamoto instructs once she's given me and Miyafuji some time to take in the room. Both I and Miyafuji seems to have travelled light as all she's got is a single green bag and all I've got is a backpack. "Is that all you two have brought?"

"I'm a light traveler and only take what I need" I answer as I shut the metal storage box sealing my meager belongings inside.

"Me too" Miyafuji adds sounding unsure of herself, she seems nervous and worried, unsure about herself and I have a feeling she's worried about her choice to travel lightly.

"Well then let's continue the tour" Sakamoto says ever not noticing or caring about Miyafuji nervousness.

The tour continues through the cold metal maze of the ships interior, Sakamoto shows us where the showers are, kitchen/ mess hall and how to get to or from the deck. This ship is even bigger than I thought and I know here and now that on some point in this voyage I am going to get lost down here, I just know it and knowing my luck I'll probable get into some sort of trouble for it.

* * *

><p><strong>Diary Entry 1<strong>

I've started this diary so I don't forget anything that has happened to me during my first trip out of Fuso, Major Mio Sakamoto was the person who suggested that I write down my adventures like she does. I am fairly sure that we are doing this for different reasons though, Sakamoto does it so that as she calms future generations will know of her heroic deeds while I'm doing this so I don't forget any of this and so my sister and mother will know what I'm been up to. At least that's what I told Sakamoto when I agreed to write this dairy. In reality I'm going to use this diary is so I can record my investigation into what happened to my father.

Well so far I've haven't started my investigation, I have to wait till I get to Britannia before I can start and I don't believe anyone on this ship will know anything and even if they did I doubt they would tell me. I may have only just got this diary but I know it will soon hold the truth about my father. Well its late and I'm going to bed, first night sleeping on a ship.

* * *

><p><strong>Week 2<strong>

This is terrible, this ship is so boring and there's nothing to do. Sakamoto, Miyafuji and the rest of the crew is busy with various tasks so they can't help, god I wish something interesting will happen that will end this insufferable boredom. I've done nothing but sleep, eat and shit for the last two weeks and I'm sure I'll be the first person in history to actually die of boredom if something doesn't happen soon, as if something has heard my prays a loud thump comes from the corridor outside of my bedroom.

"I'm sorry" A small weak voice says that's unmistakably Miyafuji's from outside my room.

"It's ok just watch yourself in the future" A deep male voice replies saying he forgives her but I can hear the anger and annoyance in his voice. It looks like I found something to do, it's doing chores but it's something.

"Hey Miyafuji do you need a hand?" I asks as I walk outside our room and see her on her hands and knees cleaning up a mess of white bed sheets that covers the floor. I bend down and start to pick up the sheets around my feet, feeling that they are still slightly damp and smelling the fresh smell that you get from washing clothes. "You really shouldn't be carrying all this by yourself"

"It's ok I can handle it" Miyafuji tells me with a small smile on her face as she looks up at me for a split second before returning to cleaning up the sheet covered floor. "I can handle it from here, thanks for helping me clean up my mess"

"Come Miyafuji let me help you carry these sheets" I say as I more securely hold my half of sheets to my body. "If I let you carry all of these by yourself then you'll only fall and drop them again"

"Well if you insist" Miyafuji says as she grips hold of her half of the sheets. "Please call me Yoshika"

"Ok Yoshika and you can call me Shinji" I reply as I step aside to let her lead the way. "Lead on"

Yoshika leads me to a store room filled with spare sheets, blankets and pillows at the other end of the ship. We place the sheets in two neat piles in the store room and I have to force myself not to take any blankets and bedding from here because my bed is so rough and so hard to sleep on and my room is freezing cold.

* * *

><p><strong>Week 3<strong>

Yoshika and I became friends over the last week while working together to clean, cook and wash anything we were told to, well Yoshika did most of the cooking all I really did was wash dishes and chop and peel what she told me to do but it was nice to have someone to talk to and better then my previous week by a long shot. That is while it lasted, yesterday I walked in on Yoshika changing and she hasn't spoken to me since, I only saw her naked bake and small ass but she reacted like I was going to kill her throwing a book at me hitting my head giving me a bad noise bleed.

I'm started to die of boredom again without Yoshika's company and chores to fill my time, Sakamoto is always busy with patrols and training to give two fucks about me. The rest of the crew keeps their distance from me and tries to end every conversation I start up with them as soon as possible and I get the feeling that they are avoiding me. I catch the odd menacing glance, dirty look and over hear the odd insulting comment from the crew as I walk through the ship, Yoshika most have been receiving the same treatment as me as I overheard some insults sent her way. Most of the insults about Yoshika I hear them say are "Dirty Witch" or "Little slut" whenever she walks past and is out of earshot.

All of these insults and looks have put me in a bad mood and a short temper. You have no idea how much self-control it takes not to punch one of these jerks in their big mouth as I walk by hearing them speak or feeling their eyes burn deep into the back of my head. On my way back to my room however I get blocked by a pair of two large sailors and another here move behind me cutting off any chance of escape.

"Well if it isn't the little witch boy gracing us with his presence" The largest and strongest one of the group says as soon as his friends surround me.

"Is there some kind of problem here?" I ask clenching my fists and trying to block out my thoughts of hurting these ass-holes.

"Yeah the fact that you and those filthy witches getting all the credit and glory, all the money and fame in this war" He says in a voice that sounds friendly at first but when he speaks again its full of hate and anger. "While me and my men here get hardly any pay even though we risk our life's just as much as those sluts do"

"I don't see what that has to do…" I say as I try to walk past him only to be cut off by a blinding pain in my right cheek and the taste of my own blood in my mouth. That's the last stew and I explode releasing all my anger I've restrained over the last three weeks into action, I swing as hard as I can in the guy's stupid big mouth knocking him back into one of his friends sending both of them to the ground. "We'll if you're looking for a fight you've got it"

The two men pick themselves off of the floor and along with their three friends they put their fists up ready for action. Spending most of my time on the streets instead of going to school I got into plenty of fights and am pretty good by the street fugs opinion as most of them have become too afraid to mess with me.

"It's your funeral brat" The man says as he charges me.

He aims his fist straight at my face, I easily side step avoiding his fist before returning the favour and catching him in his jaw feeling several of his teeth fallout of his gum. One of his friends also charges but he's sloppy and I dive my knee as hard as I can into his stomach forcing him to his hands and knees gasping for breath. That's when things go downhill as a strong hand slams me against the wall and seconds later a fists hits my nose making me see stars. Blood pours out of my nose as the five sailors get ready to beat me, my nose must be broken judging from the agonizing pain that emits from it and the amount of blood now dripping of my chin.

"I guess you what to beg for mercy now brat" One of the men say but my vision has started to blur so I can't make out who exactly said it.

"What are you doing?" A scared little voice shouts out alongside the sound of running feet on metal.

"Hey bitch stay out of this!" One of the men harshly says but the running feet continues to close in.

"No you're hurting my friend" The scared voice says sounding more determined. "So please leave him alone he had enough"

"Well then how about this the brat has a little slut to defend him" A cold mean voice says as a small person stands between me and the sailors. "Hey if you become my little slut then I'll let this brat her go"

Even with blurred vision I can see one of the men brush Yoshika's hair while he says that, Yoshika steps back to avoid his hand but that only forces him to roughly grab hold of her arm and I can her Yoshika wince in pain at his touch. That does it, I may be injured and down but the men have forgotten about me giving me an opportunity to strike and after seeing that man hurt Yoshika I have enough anger in me to move a mountain. I jump to my feet and tackle the man to the ground punching him several times in the face before his friends pull me off of him and starts to kick me all over as I lay on the ground.

The pain is everywhere and so intense that I'm on the verge of passing out, Yoshika is screaming for them to stop but her pleas land on deaf ears as the men continue to beat me. Suddenly a shot rings out mercifully bring the beating to an end but leaving me battered and bruised moaning in pain and gasping for breath.

"What the hell is going on here?" The unmistakable voice of Sakamoto asks right before I pass out

* * *

><p><strong>The next day<strong>

I wake up on my bed startling Yoshika whose face hovered just inches over my own for some reason, Yoshika fall on her backside as I wake up clearly caught off guard and by surprise. As she picks herself off of the floor I couldn't help but notice the slight blush in her cheeks and the way she's acting makes me think I've caught her in the act of something.

"Yoshika is something wrong?" I ask my voice sounding weaker than normal.

"No nothing's wrong its nothing" Yoshika says panicking and waving her hands around in front of her body as the blush on her cheek grow brighter. "It really nothing so don't worry about"

I know that she's lying to me, her panicked voice, waving hands and blushing cheeks tell me so but I don't want to push her too much on it as she's finally started talking to me again so I'll try to forget about it and drop the subject. She sits down at the side of my bed looking concerned about me as she looks over my wounds.

"So what happened after I passed out?" I ask for two reasons the first being it's the only thing that came to my mind as I tried to think of something to talk about and secondly because I want to know how the whole thing ended. "The last thing I can remember is a gunshot"

"While after they throw you off of that man that grabbed me they started to kick you all over and one of them restrained me so I couldn't help" Yoshika tells me as tears form in her eyes. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop them… I… I tried but I… I couldn't get myself free" Yoshika tells me as she starts to cry uncontrollably. "I'm so sorry"

"Yoshika its ok I don't blame you for what happened" I tell her as calmly as I can while I use one of my hand to wipe away her tears. "Those guys are at fault not you"

"But you saved me when one of them grabbed me" Yoshika says still crying like there's no tomorrow. "You saved me when I needed saving but I couldn't save you when you…"

"Yoshika stop beating yourself up I'm no mad that you couldn't stop them, I've been fighting since I could walk so a beating like this is nothing for me" I tell her still trying to calm her down, it works as her tears slowly stop dripping down her cheeks and after a minute or two she's stopped crying altogether. "So can you tell me what happened after that?"

"While Sakamoto and two pilots came and arrested the sailors, it was one of the pilots that fired the shot and the sailors surrendered without a fight after the Major drew her sword" Yoshika answers, even though she's not crying any more I can tell that she's still upset by the tone of her voice. "The sailors admitted to starting the fight so you're not in trouble so don't worry about it and get some rest"

"Was it you that treated my injuries?" I ask her as I rest my head back down on my pillow.

"Yes, Your nose was broken and one of your ribs as while as most of your body being covered in bruises" She answers with a small smile of pride on her face, it's clear to me that she takes pride in healing the sick and injured from that one smile. "I healed your injuries but you'll still be sore for a day or two"

"Ok then and thanks for healing me" I say as I close my eyes and start to feel myself drift off.

"You don't have to thank me it's the least I could do after you saved me" Yoshika says as I drift off to sleep.


	4. The welcome Party

**Week 4**

During the last week Yoshika seems to have forgiven me for walking in on her changing and we continue our daily routine of chores. The crew have shut up after my fight with the sailors keeping their comments to themselves and no longer do I feel everyone eyes on me. The daily routine me is simple and boring but Yoshika makes up games to make the chores entertaining, racing each other while mopping, playing twenty questions while washing cloths and cooking, Yoshika sure has made the days fly by with her games.

* * *

><p><strong>Week 5<strong>

Another week and another fun week of chores with Yoshika, she has got a lot better at twenty question easily able to beat me nine times out of ten now but racing is still my game and even holding back Yoshika still can't hold a candle to my flame. The days are starting to fly by one after another now that I'm into this routine of fun, games and chores with Yoshika and this week has flown by in a blink of an eye.

I've learned that the sailors that attacked me have been kicked out of the navy earlier this morning and that the big strong one was crying over it. This week has been the best by far on this ship especially since I heard that piece of news, I'm almost tempted to find out where those guys are and rub it in their faces.

* * *

><p><strong>Diary Entry 2<strong>

Last night I found Yoshika crying on the deck of the ship while out for a walk before turning in for the night. By the looks in her eyes I can tell she's been crying for a while but none of the crew members on deck have come over to see what is wrong.

"Are you ok Yoshika?" I asked her in a calm quiet voice as I sit myself down beside her.

"Yeah I'm fine" She replied whipping the tears from her eyes.

"Are you sure you look like you've be crying for some time now" I said handing her a tissue I had in my pocket.

"It's nothing I… I just miss him… My father died because of this war and I don't know anything about what happened… What happened to him" She says as her tears start up again sending a pain into my chest, her father's dead like mine and it hurts me to see her suffer like this.

"It's ok Yoshika he's in a better place right now, safe and sound watching over you" I tell her as I wrap my arm around her shoulder. "I know he is just like my dad is watching over me"

We spend the next ten minutes speaking about our fathers, the best and worst times, their habits and personalities. It feels so good to speak to someone going through the same pain I am and it must feel good for Yoshika too as by the time we finished and are heading back to our room her tears have sopped and there's a smile on her face.

* * *

><p><strong>Week 6<strong>

It's the last day of the trip and Britannia's only half a day away, Yoshika and I are on the flight deck looking out over the front of the ship hoping to spot the Britannian coast but all we see is the endless stretch of water. We've been cleaning/ racing across the flight deck all morning and are taking a break, so far I've won every race today and I can tell Yoshika is really pushing herself to beat me as today she's out of breath after our race.

"I thought we would have been able to see the coast by now" Yoshika says as she looks out into the sea.

"We are still half a day away from Britannia" I tell her. "Just wait a few hours and then..."

"Testing, 1 2. Miyafuji, Kato wait for me on deck I have something to show you" Sakamoto say's over the ships intercom interrupting me.

"What do you think she wants?" I ask Yoshika as we turn round to face the sound of the ships elevator raising.

"I don't know" Yoshika answers as we watch Sakamoto raise to the deck with something attached to her legs as the elevator finishes raising the Major onto the deck I recognize the metal objects on her legs, it's a Striker Unit.

Sakamoto takes of the Carrie accelerating faster than anything I've seen before as she climbs higher and higher into the sky. Just as she was about to climb high into the clouds she cuts her engines and flips over diving towards the ground at breakneck speed, just before she crashes into the deck she restarts her engines and pulls up barely missing the top of my head. She flies out to sea swerving between ships as she flies at a breath taking speed us inches above the water. As soon as she passes the lead ship she does a half lop followed by a corkscrew ending up with her heading back our way moving us as fast as before. She lands on the Carrie within seconds of turning back, now the slowly floats towards where Yoshika and I have been watching her with our mouths wide open.

"Whoa Miss Sakamoto you flying around so fast, like a bird" Yoshika says as Sakamoto reaches us with admiration as clear as day I her voice.

Ha ha ha only birds are not as fast as we are, we are part of the 501st, we are the Strike Witches and this…" Sakamoto replies as she climbs out of her Striker. "This is our magic broom"

"Is that what my father built?" Yoshika asks as she looks at the Striker.

"Yes, do you want to try it on?" Sakamoto asks in response but she stops as Yoshika gets a nervous look on her face. "Don't worry it won't bite, your father was the one that invented it after all"

"There's one small problem if you want me to fight in one of those" I tell her as Yoshika walks up and rests her hands on the Striker. "If all he Striker Unis are this small then won't they be a bit too small for me to put on"

"Don't worry about ha a custom-made unit is being prepared for you and should arrive at our base in Britannia in about a week's time from now" Sakamoto tells me without taking her eyes off Yoshika who's still examining every inch of the Striker. "So Miyafuji have you decided to try it on yet?"

"I think I'll pass" Yoshika answers as she reluctantly takes her hand of the surface of the Striker. "I think I understand my father's work now but I still won' help with this war"

"I see well if that's the case then we'll head straight o your father's address once we reach Britannia before heading to the base" Sakamoto says not sounding fazed by Yoshika's last statement. "I'm sure Kato doesn't mind right Kato?"

"No I don't mind" I answer while I try to figure out why the Major would bring her all the way out here unless she joined the military, this must be some part of a grand scheme Sakamoto has to recruit her. I'm tempted to try and stop her but to be hones I'm more interested in seeing how this all plays out so I think I'll stay quiet and watch from the sidelines. "So how much of a detour will this be?"

"Only a few hours at the most so we will probable arrive well after dark at the base so interdictions will have to wait until the morning" Sakamoto replies staring off into the distance like she see's something, I try to see what it is but before I can see anything she pushes past me and lifts her eye patch reeling a purple eye below. "Station! Neuroi spotted twelve o'clock, distance four thousand!"

As soon as she finished shouting a red beam destroys a white fluffy cloud and striking a Destroyer cause an explosion large enough to split the ship in half and throw it several feet into the air. Where the cloud once stood is a large black object with red dots on its body that must be a Neuroi. The Neuroi is shaped like a stingray and is slowly floating towards the fleet, black flack clouds begin to block my view as the deafening sound of AA fire begins to pond at my ears.

"That's a... A Neuroi" Yoshika says in shock as the Neuroi fires another beam just missing the Carrier shaking the ship so much that all three of us fall onto the deck.

"Contact confirmed this is not a drill!" Sakamoto shouts as she gets to her feet before turning to face me and Yoshika. "Kato take Miyafuji back to our room and wait there, keep her safe for me"

"Yes ma'am" I reply as I help Yoshika to her feet.

"Stop calling me ma'am and get a move on" Sakamoto says as she jumps back into her Striker. "Get moving you're blocking the flight deck!"

I take Yoshika's hand and guide her to the nearest door, just as we reach it another beam and another ship destroyed. We move towards our room as crew members push past us, its slow going but finally we make it back. As soon as I close the door Yoshika jumps onto her bed and hugs her pillow, although she hasn't admitted it I can tell she's terrified from the way she tightly hugs her pillow to her chest.

"Don't worry Yoshika I know we'll get through this alive" I tell her as I sit down on the edge of her bed. "With everyone we saw out there working as hard as they are now then there's no way we won't make it out of her"

"He's right Miyafuji" Sakamoto says as she enters the room with something in her hands. "I've brought you two something" She says as she places something in my ear and then another object in Yoshika's ear. "There communicators so we can keep in touch"

"Miss Sakamoto are you going to fight" Yoshika asks as she sits up on her bed.

"Yes I'm a witch and it's my duty to fight" Sakamoto answers before walking out of the room.

"Do you think she'll be ok?" Yoshika asks staring at the door.

"Yeah she's been in battles before and made it out alive so with all these ships and fighter planes to help her this should be a walk in the park for her" I reply. "She'll be walking back through..." I'm interrupted by a deafening explosion and the violent shake of the ship, I see a red glow coming from the corridor and the smell of smoke starts to fill the room. I'm waiting for the sprinklers to activate but they don't, the temperature raises and the smoke thickens in our room making it hard to breath and impossible to see anything. I blindly grab Yoshika's arm in order to lead her to safety, we can't stay here with the smoke or we'll die, we have no choice but to leave and return to the deck. "Yoshika follow me we need to get out before the smoke overcomes us"

"Ok don't let go of me I can't see" Yoshika replies as I start to lead her out of our room.

As we leave the room I notice how close we were to death, the room next to ours has been blown apart and is now an inferno. We walk blindly through the smoke filled corridors hoping our feet will lead us to safety. We walk for minutes through the smoke before we reach safety, by this time my throat is burning and both I and Yoshika are coughing uncontrollable. Taking our first breaths of fresh air after countless of smoke filled ones feels amazing, the gift of sight has also be restored to us unfortunately all we can see are lifeboats and sinking burning ships.

High above us Sakamoto along with a handful of fighter planes are battle the Neuroi in the sky while the ships below continue to put up a blanket of dark flak clouds and fill the air with tracers. As I quickly look around I see how bad the situation is, another ship is sinking and I watch two fighters being blown from the sky by a single red beam. Sakamoto isn't faring much better ever as the Neuroi's beams hit her shield pushing her further away from it. Looking more closely at her I can't spot her gun and if I'm not mistaken then in her hands is a sword, she must be out of ammo.

"This isn't good" I mutter under my breath as I survey the destruction around me. Yoshika looks up at me in worry but before she can say anything I ask her a question, something I hope she replies yes to. "Can you swim?"

"Yes why?" Yoshika answers looking up at me with a mixture of confusion and worry in her eyes.

"Because there's a good chance this ship will sink" I answer just before another Neuroi beam hits a gun emplacement nearby us. The blast from the explosion knocks us both to the ground, I land hard on the deck losing every breath of air in my lungs, and Yoshika is luckier as she lands on top of me and gets up within seconds of falling.

"Shinji are ok?" Yoshika asks and I nod in response as my gasping for air prevents me from speaking. "Good, there's people hurt over by that gun. I'm going over there to help so meet me there when you can"

Yoshika runs off before I can stop her, I try to call out for her to wait but the lack of air in my lungs prevent me from doing so and from running after her. I can't even see her from where I'm lead, all I can do is watch the Neuroi finish off the last two fighter planes leaving just Sakamoto along in the sky to fight the Neuroi. The black clouds of flack are becoming thinner and thinner as more ships sink to the bottom a blazing wreck. The Neuroi continues to circle the carrier charging a beam, I can tell by the red patches growing brighter and brighter. It shoots a bright red beam at the ship much bigger than anything it's fired before. The beam only just misses the ship sending a Colum of water high into the sky dwarfing the carrier and sending the ship flying suddenly to one side.

I can see the Neuroi charging another powerful beam up aimed directly at the ship, I know this one will hit, Sakamoto is trying to get close enough to the Neuroi to slice it with her sword but a barrage of beams is keeping her away. I franticly try to think of a plain and something comes to mind, the image of the small fire I started in the clinic comes to mind and now I know what to do. I don't know how I can do it but I go by instinct, I close my eyes and picture a ball of fire in my hands, I picture it hot and bright, strong and powerful. When I open my hands it appears my instincts where right as a ball of fire the size of a tennis ball is floating just above my hands. I imagine shooting this ball of fire at the Neuroi while be the same way so I aim my hand at the glowing red part of the Neuroi and picture the fire ball heading straight at the Neuroi, once again my picture in my head becomes a reality and the fire ball shoots into the sky towards the Neuroi high above. The fire ball hits the glowing part punching a whole straight through the Neuroi and leaving a burning hole behind.

"Kato what are you doing on deck I ordered you to stay in our room with Miyafuji" Sakamoto says with annoyance clearly head in her voice. "Where is Miyafuji anyway?"

"We had to leave… The smoke in the room would have choked us" I reply as my breath finally returns and I sit myself up. "Yoshika is nearby healing an injured sailor"

"Ok stay by her side and protect her" Sakamoto orders sounding less annoyed.

"Yes ma'am" I respond before getting to my feet and releasing my mistake.

"How many times to I have to tell you!" Sakamoto shouts as she charges straight at the Neuroi. "Don't call me ma'am!" She screams louder as she slices off one of the Neuroi's wing in one clean cut. "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma… Sakamoto" I answer nearly repeating my mistake and joining the Neuroi in the missing limb club.

"Good now find Miyafuji and keep her safe" She orders as she fly's high above the slowly regenerating Neuroi.

She doesn't need to tell me twice, I run off towards where I saw Yoshika go without a word. I find her treating a sailor with a stomach wound but something's wrong, the man is starting to gasp in pain and even though I'm new to magic I can tell that Yoshika is struggling to control hers. Yoshika is out of breath by the time I reach her, she's did very little to heal the wound from what I can tell and a medic seems to have reached the same conclusion as he shoves Yoshika out of his way not even checking if she's ok after she hit the hard metal floor.

"What are you doing?" He asks her in a harsh tone like he's ever jealous of her ability or another witch hater.

"I'm trying to use my magic to heal him" Yoshika answers as she gets to her feet with an exhausted look on her face.

"I can do a better job without your magic" He snaps back at her. "I'm mean just look at you your powers are pathetic"

"Please there must be something I can do" Yoshika almost begs him.

"There's not, this is a slaughter kid, there's no place for you here" The man tells her and I can see the hurt in Yoshika's eye's.

"Don't worry Yoshika I know a way we can help" I tell her as I walk up beside her, she turns round to face me and it's impossible to miss the happiness floating around in her eyes at the idea of helping someone in need. That's one of the things I've come to admire about her, Yoshika will always help you no matter what you've done or said to her. "Come with me and I'll explain on the way"

"What are we going to do?" Yoshika asks as I lead her away from the medic.

"We're going to get medical supplies, as much as we can carry" I tell her and she nods in agreement. "We will then deliver them to where ever they are needed"

"Ok let's do it" Yoshika says taking the lead and speeding up our walk to a light jog.

We reach the medical room in less than a minute and find it abandon, I was expecting to find at least one doctor and a room full of wounded and dyeing sailors but not this, not an abandon room like this. There's not even a single sign that anyone was even here, all the cabinets are securely Locke and despite the ship being rocked and thrown by several large explosions everything is in its place like nothing's happened. I look around the room and find a large duffel bag to carry around the supplies we find and lay it down on the only bed in the room, even the bed is perfectly made. I can't find the keys to the cabinets and Yoshika had no luck is well leaving us with one option, smash our way in. I punch the wooden frame as hard as I can with no results other than a bruised knuckle and ego.

"Are you ok?" Yoshika asks as I hold my throbbing fist to my chest and step back from the cabinet.

"Yeah I'm fine" I answer as another idea forms in my head. I can't believe I didn't think of it before slamming my fist into the he cabinet. I use my power to melt the lock. "Stand back"

Yoshika takes several steps backwards and once I'm sure she's a safe distance I grab the lock and begin to visualize a fire in my and burning hot and brightly like the wielding touches I've seen the dock workers use on the ships. This time a blue flame covers the palm of my hand and nearly instantly the lock begins to melt, ten seconds later it's nothing but a boiling hot and bubbling in a puddle on the floor. I stop picturing the flame and the blue fire on my palm quickly disappears returning my palm back to normal, I run a finger over my palm and find it's not even hot.

"Ok we're in" I say as I open up the cabinet relieved that none of the bottles of medicine and piles of bandages inside. "Help me put these in the bag"

Yoshika steps up beside me without uttering a word and begins to place the medical supplies neatly in the bag. After five minutes the bag is full and we leave the room with half of the ships medical supplies in the bag, I'm carry the bag to make it easy for Yoshika to treat anyone we find in need of treatment. We agreed while packing the bag that I'll carry it and hand her whatever she requires. We walk through the endless corridors of the ships interior and somehow we walk straight into a hanger, the hangers empty apart from a single striker and machine gun which I'm guessing are Yoshika's. We are about to turn back and leave when an explosion knocks us off our feet and leaves my ears ringing. It must have hit the ship, somewhere nearby judging by the ringing in my ears and the force that sent me flying into the hard metal ground.

"This is bad, all our fighters are down apart from Major Sakamoto" Someone says over the radio, I look up through the newly opened hole in the deck above seeing only the black body of the Neuroi completely blocking out the sky below.

"Yoshika" I say looking around the hanger for her. "Yoshika!" I shout louder just before I spot her, she's lying unconscious on the floor. I run over to her and shake her shoulder gently while calling out her name trying to wake her. Her eyes slowly start to flicker open, gradually she wakes up and looks at me first in confusion and then in embarrassment as her cheeks redden and she jumps back away from me. "Yoshika are you alright?" I ask and she nods not taking her eyes of the floor for a second as her cheeks continue to redden. "That's a relief as it sounds like we will need to abandon ship soon"

"Why? What happening?" Yoshika asks her facial expression changing swiftly from embarrassment to alarm and confusion.

"Sakamoto is the only person left still fighting" I tell her making her look even more worried.

"We have to help her" Yoshika says getting to her fee and scanning the room trying to come up with a plan. "Help me into that striker and hand me the gun"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask as we rush over to the striker unit.

"Yes, she'll die if I don't" Yoshika answers as she jumps into the striker and starts up the engine. "Pass me that gun"

"Here you go" I reply as I comply with her demand. "You'll have to ask Sakamoto how to shoot because I don't have a clue"

"Don't worry this gun is for her" She replies surprising me with the answer, really thought she was going to fight. "I told both you and the Major that I wouldn't fight"

"Ok then get ready I'm activating the lift" I say before I move to the lift controls. They are so easy to understand that even a child could use them like an expert. "Ready?" She nods in response. "Good luck out there"

I watch Yoshika ascend onto the flight deck until she's out of sight only then do I start to run towards the exit. I barely make it out of the hanger before another beam hits it destroy where Yoshika and I just where seconds after I left. I run and keep on running until I reach the flight deck, by which time the Neuroi had been destroyed and Sakamoto was carry Yoshika back towards the Carrier to the cheers and clapping of the crew and fleet.


	5. Yoshika's Resolve

I'm sat on my bed watching over Yoshika as the sun rises, I hardly slept last night because of the worry I've felt for Yoshika. She still hasn't woken up after yesterday's fight and in the back of my mind I'm afraid she'll never awake. Sakamoto keeps telling that she's fine and just exhausted from the fight, reassuring me that she'll be up moving before we make port. But now with the Britannian coast in sight and nearly there and with Yoshika still asleep my worry for her starts to take over my body and soul.

The fleet was meant to arrive yesterday afternoon but with the damage the ship and fleet took they have to limp into port and it took eight hours longer than expected. Sakamoto tried to talk me into going up to the flight deck but I refused knowing that my worry will keep me so distracted that I'll walk straight off the deck and into the sea instead of enjoying the beautiful coast line Sakamoto seemed eager to see. I know we must be close because I can hear the sea galls outside and I am tempted to see the coast but I'm too worried about Yoshika o leave her side even for a second so I stay sat on my bed watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest. There something it makes my worry disappear.

As I continue to watch I see her start to stir, first only rolls onto her side but then her eyes start to open and close almost like they are in slow motion. Finally she sits up and looks around the room still half asleep not even noticing me, even when she looks directly at me she has to blink several times and rub her eyes before she even looks like she sees me. Her eyes instantly go wide and that's when I know she's seen me.

"Shinji where am I?" Yoshika asks me still half asleep and looking at me like she's trying to decide if I'm real or not.

"You're in our room on the Akagi" I tell her. "You've been unconscious since the battle yesterday but you've become a hero that saved the ship according to Sakamoto"

"I'm a hero" Yoshika says to herself sounding like she can hardly believe it. "Wait all I did was shoot around the core and someone else destroyed it, I'm not a hero I hardly did anything"

"You did more than you think" The unmistakable voice of Sakamoto says and we both turn to see her standing in the doorway. "If you weren't have put on that Striker and joined me in the air then I would have been shot down and the fleet sunk. You may not have destroyed the core but you distracted it which brought us enough time for reinforcements to arrive so you are the one that saved the fleet and a hero Miyafuji"

"She's right Yoshika" I confirm turning back to face her. "You saw the shape the ship was in and I believe it wouldn't have stayed afloat much longer"

"Anyway now that that's been said we need to collect our things as the ship is about to dock" Sakamoto tells us as she walks over to the suitcase on her bed. "Meet me on flight deck in five minutes"

"We on it" I reply as I get of my bed and grab my backpack already packed and ready to go. I place it on my bed and turn to Yoshika to see if she needs help but she's already packed, she has her green bag held tightly to her chest and is looking at me like she's waiting for me. "She'll we get going then"

"Yes" Yoshika says with a smile on her face as she walks toward the door.

I follow Yoshika out of the room giving it one last look before I go and being glad I'm done with it. It was small and cramped also sharing with Yoshika and Sakamoto wasn't necessary uncomfortable but it was inconvenient, always worry about walking in on each other changing and being woken up by Sakamoto as she opened the door early in the morning on her way to training lead to a growing hatred of the room and now I'm over the moon because I will never return to it. I follow Yoshika through the metal maze of the ships interior, we walk side by side in silence until we finally reach the deck and the sea breeze I've become so used to hits our faces.

"We're finally here" I say aloud as re step onto the flight deck. "I was beginning to think we'll never arrive"

"Me too" Yoshika says. "It feels like we've been on this ship forever"

"While you two should say your goodbyes because it will be awhile before it returns us to Fuso" Sakamoto says and I can hear her footsteps walking towards us from our left.

"That's probably for the best as I can't wait to be back on land" I tell her as she reaches us.

"Ha ha ha I guess you're not used to long journeys" Sakamoto says with her trademark laugh which I come to both hate and love.

"No I just don't like them ma'am" I reply causing her to give me a look that could kill me if looks could kill that is. "I used to travel a lot actually and I hated it back then too"

"How many times do I have to tell me not to call me ma'am?" She asks clearly pissed off.

"About as many times as I called you it" I tell her and for a split second she looks like she might attack but she quickly calm down and I make a mental note not to call her ma'am or at least not for a while.

"So then here's todays plan" Sakamoto says changing the topic but clearly a lot calmer. "We will head straight to Dr. Miyafuji's grave and then we'll head straight to the base, if all goes well we should arrive at sunset"

"Sounds good" I say.

"Good are you ok with that Miyafuji?" Sakamoto asks turning her attention to Yoshika.

"Yes" Yoshika says sounding slightly depressed.

"Hey Kato here" Sakamoto says as she throws something at me. I catch it in my hands and find it's the neckless Miyo gave me on my last day of school and my last day of sleeping at my home. I'm wonder how she got it and was about to ask her when she adds. "It was taken as evidence after your little fight but once it was it wasn't used in the fight I was giving it, I was about to give you it back yesterday but the Neuroi showed up and I forgot about it until I found it my pocket just now"

"Thanks" I say as I place the neckless around my neck.

"That's a pretty neckless Shinji" Yoshika tells me as she leans over to get a closer look at it. "Where did you get it?"

"My sister gave it to me the morning your Granddad ran me over" I answer and Yoshika steps back looking like she's about to cry. "Yoshika are you alright?"

"I'm fine I'm just… I'm sorry for what he did to you" Yoshika replies as one single tear slides down her cheek.

"Its ok from what I was told you made it right by healing me" I say rubbing the top of her hair and bring a small smile back to her face which grow larger when I add. "You did a good job back there"

* * *

><p>At the grave<p>

I'm sat on my bed watching over Yoshika as the sun rises, I hardly slept last night because of the worry I've felt for Yoshika. She still hasn't woken up after yesterday's fight and in the back of my mind I'm afraid she'll never awake. Sakamoto keeps telling that she's fine and just exhausted from the fight, reassuring me that she'll be up moving before we make port. But now with the Britannian coast in sight and nearly there and with Yoshika still asleep my worry for her starts to take over my body and soul.

The fleet was meant to arrive yesterday afternoon but with the damage the ship and fleet took they have to limp into port and it took eight hours longer than expected. Sakamoto tried to talk me into going up to the flight deck but I refused knowing that my worry will keep me so distracted that I'll walk straight off the deck and into the sea instead of enjoying the beautiful coast line Sakamoto seemed eager to see. I know we must be close because I can hear the sea galls outside and I am tempted to see the coast but I'm too worried about Yoshika o leave her side even for a second so I stay sat on my bed watching the gentle rise and fall of her chest. There something it makes my worry disappear.

As I continue to watch I see her start to stir, first only rolls onto her side but then her eyes start to open and close almost like they are in slow motion. Finally she sits up and looks around the room still half asleep not even noticing me, even when she looks directly at me she has to blink several times and rub her eyes before she even looks like she sees me. Her eyes instantly go wide and that's when I know she's seen me.

"Shinji where am I?" Yoshika asks me still half asleep and looking at me like she's trying to decide if I'm real or not.

"You're in our room on the Akagi" I tell her. "You've been unconscious since the battle yesterday but you've become a hero that saved the ship according to Sakamoto"

"I'm a hero" Yoshika says to herself sounding like she can hardly believe it. "Wait all I did was shoot around the core and someone else destroyed it, I'm not a hero I hardly did anything"

"You did more than you think" The unmistakable voice of Sakamoto says and we both turn to see her standing in the doorway. "If you weren't have put on that Striker and joined me in the air then I would have been shot down and the fleet sunk. You may not have destroyed the core but you distracted it which brought us enough time for reinforcements to arrive so you are the one that saved the fleet and a hero Miyafuji"

"She's right Yoshika" I confirm turning back to face her. "You saw the shape the ship was in and I believe it wouldn't have stayed afloat much longer"

"Anyway now that that's been said we need to collect our things as the ship is about to dock" Sakamoto tells us as she walks over to the suitcase on her bed. "Meet me on flight deck in five minutes"

"We on it" I reply as I get of my bed and grab my backpack already packed and ready to go. I place it on my bed and turn to Yoshika to see if she needs help but she's already packed, she has her green bag held tightly to her chest and is looking at me like she's waiting for me. "She'll we get going then"

"Yes" Yoshika says with a smile on her face as she walks toward the door.

I follow Yoshika out of the room giving it one last look before I go and being glad I'm done with it. It was small and cramped also sharing with Yoshika and Sakamoto wasn't necessary uncomfortable but it was inconvenient, always worry about walking in on each other changing and being woken up by Sakamoto as she opened the door early in the morning on her way to training lead to a growing hatred of the room and now I'm over the moon because I will never return to it. I follow Yoshika through the metal maze of the ships interior, we walk side by side in silence until we finally reach the deck and the sea breeze I've become so used to hits our faces.

"We're finally here" I say aloud as re step onto the flight deck. "I was beginning to think we'll never arrive"

"Me too" Yoshika says. "It feels like we've been on this ship forever"

"While you two should say your goodbyes because it will be awhile before it returns us to Fuso" Sakamoto says and I can hear her footsteps walking towards us from our left.

"That's probably for the best as I can't wait to be back on land" I tell her as she reaches us.

"Ha ha ha I guess you're not used to long journeys" Sakamoto says with her trademark laugh which I come to both hate and love.

"No I just don't like them ma'am" I reply causing her to give me a look that could kill me if looks could kill that is. "I used to travel a lot actually and I hated it back then too"

"How many times do I have to tell me not to call me ma'am?" She asks clearly pissed off.

"About as many times as I called you it" I tell her and for a split second she looks like she might attack but she quickly calm down and I make a mental note not to call her ma'am or at least not for a while.

"So then here's todays plan" Sakamoto says changing the topic but clearly a lot calmer. "We will head straight to Dr. Miyafuji's grave and then we'll head straight to the base, if all goes well we should arrive at sunset"

"Sounds good" I say.

"Good are you ok with that Miyafuji?" Sakamoto asks turning her attention to Yoshika.

"Yes" Yoshika says sounding slightly depressed.

"Hey Kato here" Sakamoto says as she throws something at me. I catch it in my hands and find it's the neckless Miyo gave me on my last day of school and my last day of sleeping at my home. I'm wonder how she got it and was about to ask her when she adds. "It was taken as evidence after your little fight but once it was it wasn't used in the fight I was giving it, I was about to give you it back yesterday but the Neuroi showed up and I forgot about it until I found it my pocket just now"

"Thanks" I say as I place the neckless around my neck.

"That's a pretty neckless Shinji" Yoshika tells me as she leans over to get a closer look at it. "Where did you get it?"

"My sister gave it to me the morning your Granddad ran me over" I answer and Yoshika steps back looking like she's about to cry. "Yoshika are you alright?"

"I'm fine I'm just… I'm sorry for what he did to you" Yoshika replies as one single tear slides down her cheek.

"Its ok from what I was told you made it right by healing me" I say rubbing the top of her hair and bring a small smile back to her face which grow larger when I add. "You did a good job back there"

At the grave

After a two hour drive along the Britannian coast in an old Bedford loaded with supplies Sakamoto brought over from Fuso for the 501st we arrive at Dr. Miyafuji's grave. The drive was smooth and pleasant along the coastal road with great views of the sea for the entire journey. To be honest I thought the ride would be like my bus ride to school, uncomfortable and painful but I'm glad to say I was wrong. The weathers been nice too, not too warm and not to cold just right for me, there's almost no wind and the only sound here is the engine of the truck. It's been a nice almost perfect drive.

When we arrive Sakamoto and I wait at the truck while Yoshika visits the grave. It's a nice spot for a grave overlooking the coast and looking out over the sea I have a feeling that you'll get a good view of the setting sun from here. There are a few other graves scattered around the area but none are as good as Dr. Miyafuji's, his grave is in better condition and in a much better potion to watch the sun set. His grave though isn't what I expected for a man who turned the tide in this war and gave us a fighting chance, it's only a plain headstone with an engraved stone block in the grass in front of it and a few flowers placed on top.

"Use your power to protect everyone" Yoshika says to herself reading from the inscribe writing on the stone block.

"That was one of your father's favorite sayings" Sakamoto says taking a few steps closer to Yoshika. "That's why he made the Striker, he just wanted to protect everybody"

Yoshika turns around to face us and I can see the tears leave her eyes and drip down her cheeks, her eyes are red and her whole demeanor show her sadness. I step forward and stop beside Sakamoto about to say something to comfort her but I don't get a chance to do so before Sakamoto speaks up once again.

"His death was a great blow to humanity, I'm sure if he was still alive that this war would have ended by now" Sakamoto tells her lowing her head in respect for the dead. "He was a genus, smarter than anyone I've ever met. He always knew what to do, what to say and how to do it to solve any problem he encountered"

"Yeah he would always make everything better whenever something went wrong" Yoshika replies with a weak smile on her face as she rubs her red eyes free of tears.

"I may not have met your father but from what I heard of him I know he must have been a wonderful father and a brilliant scientist" I tell her giving her a small smile which she returns before she turns to face Sakamoto.

"Um Major Sakamoto if it's still alright I would like to join the Strike Witches" Yoshika asks which surprises me for two reasons, one I thought she was already in the unit and two I still don't see her as a fighter.

"Are you sure?" Sakamoto asks clear as surprised as I am at her last request which is he first and possibly the last time I've ever seen anything throw her.

"Yes" Yoshika answers. "I want to stay here and continue my father's work"

"Yoshika" I say still surprised that she'll want to fight even though looking back it doesn't surprise me, she did throw herself between me and those sailors on the ship.

"I'm sure" Yoshika continues looking back to her father's grave. "It's what my father would have wanted me to do"

"Ok" Sakamoto quietly says with a light chuckle. "But you better be ready as I'm going to push you train you into a real witch, a true witch. Are you ready?"

"Yes" Yoshika replies with a look of determination in her eyes I have never seen before.

"That's good to hear" Sakamoto says followed by her trademark laugh. "You better be ready to Kato and if you responded with a ma'am then you'll end up over the cliff"

"I'm ready" I tell her having to force myself not to add ma'am to the end of that.

"That's the sprite now then should we get going" Sakamoto asks with a smile on her face that I so rarely seen.

"I'm ready when you two are" I say and Yoshika nods in response so we head straight for the truck.


	6. The Strike Witches

We arrive at the castle where the 501st is based just as the sun is setting, the castle is lit up like a Christmas tree and easily spotted at a distance. I almost feel like where the one wise man and two witches flowing the lit up castle to our destination. The castle is huge even from a distance it looks big. The castle is on an island just off the coast which is unnervingly only attached to the main land by a narrow dirt road which twist and turns sharply every few meters. I can't stop thinking about Sakamoto driving us off the side of the road and into the channel, I try and fail to change my trail of thoughts but whatever I try they always drift back to me sinking to a watery grave still strapped into the truck.

"It's so pretty" Yoshika says staring out of the window towards the castle.

"It is but those lights are a beacon for the Neuroi" Sakamoto tells us shaking her head.

"I thought the Neuroi could see in the dark" I say remembering stories that Darrin told me about his father repelling Neuroi assaults in the dead of night.

"They can but those lights just make it a lot easier" Sakamoto replies as she parks the truck up just outside of what appears to be a hanger with the broom stick star of the 501st displayed above. "Well here we are, follow me we have to report to Commander Minna" With that she leads us into the castle and straight up a flight of stairs, we climb and climb until we reach the top floor and a large wooden door. Sakamoto pauses at the door before knocking firmly and loudly against the oak surface of the door. "Kato be on your best behavior she isn't going to like you"

"Why wouldn't she?" I ask but before she can answer a voice from inside the room tells us to enter.

"Just behave and I'll tell you later" She says as she opens the door.

We step into a large office with bookshelf's lining the walls to my left and right, a large window with an oak desk and matching chairs in front of it. Sat at the desk is a red haired Karlslander watching us enter but her eyes are mostly on me. Her red eyes stare wholes into my body and right now I know Sakamoto was right about her not liking me, there's something about her stare, something hidden behind those red eyes of hers that screams distrust and hatred towards me. I decide right here and now that it's best to follow Sakamoto's order and behave myself. Sakamoto walks us towards her desk and the red hairs eyes only leave me once we stop in front of her. As soon as we come to a halt her eyes move to the Major and I can't help but feel a sigh of relief leave my mouth. I had no idea how much a stare could affect someone, It felt like her stare alone was killing me and the relief of having her eyes off me is overwhelmingly good.

"Welcome back Major" She says in a much kinder and softer voice then I was expecting from someone who almost killed me with her stare alone. "I take it these are our two new recruits"

"Yes Yoshika Miyafuji and Shinji Kato" Sakamoto replies pointing both of us out to the commander. I don't know why she had to point us out like that, it's obvious who we were just from our names and I highly doubt that the women behind the desk is stupid enough to mix us up. "I found them both in Fuso and Kato was a pleasant surprise and shown a talent for war inflicting server damage to the Neuroi that attacked the fleet"

The women looks me over and I can feel her eyes roam my body as if her stare is burning my flesh, Sakamoto is clearly talking me up and pointing out my achievements and potential. After the commander has finished looking me over our eyes lock and I can feel her staring deep into my soul as if she's trying to find my deepest secrets. Once she's done her attention goes to her desk as she opens a tray and I take a deep breath. Oh my god I didn't even relies I was holding it. How could this women have such powerful stares that could choke and kill me with a single glance?

"Ok then let's get on with the paper work" She says as she places two forms and a pen on the desk.

The paper takes nearly an hour to complete and by the end of it my legs are killing me from the constant standing. The Karlslander seems to take great care in every letter she scribbles on the forms making sure it's perfect before moving onto the next. Right know after answering the questions to the form she knows everything about me and all I know about her is her nationality and that she takes care and pride in her paper work. Once she's filled out both forms for me and Yoshika she carefully files them away before turning her deadly stare back towards us, mainly me. I don't even need to look to know her eyes on me as the burning sensation caused by her stare lets me know exactly where her eyes are staring.

"Ok as of right now you are members of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing the Strike Witches. Step forward" Minna orders as soon as she files the forms and turns round to face us. "As of now both of you are Sergeants under my command" After that she salutes us and we return her salute. "I'm Lieutenant colonel Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke and I'm in charge of this unit and base. You'll be introduced to the rest of the squad in the morning so you're dismissed for now, Major take them to their room please"

"I'm on it" Sakamoto responds before turning around and walking towards the door, Yoshika and myself don't need her to tells us to follow especially me. I can feel her eye's burning the back of my head as I leave, even when Sakamoto closes the door behind us I can still feel her gaze on me. What is her problem? "Follow me and I'll take you to your rooms"

"What's Minna's problem with me?" I ask her as soon as I feel that red heads burning gaze leave my body.

"She lost someone dear to he and she doesn't want any of us to feel her pain" Sakamoto answers but her answer still doesn't satisfy me, as if sensing this she adds. "I can't tell you anymore because she'll kill me if I do"

"I have a feeling she will" I say remembering the chocking feel of her gaze, just her gaze was enough to nearly kill me, I'll hate to find out what she'll be like in an actual fight.

"She's a nice person" Sakamoto tells me. "Just behave for a while and soon she'll warm up to you and you'll see how nice she really is" Yeah I've already felt how boiling hot she can be, her gaze burned right through me. "She'll just be a little distrustful of you but I'm sure you could win her over in a month or two"

"I hope so as her staring nearly brunt me back there" I say getting a small smile from the Major in return but it quickly disappears and we reach another oak door, smaller than Minna's door but it's still a tick large door.

"Here you are Kato" Sakamoto says opening the door. "This is your room and Miyafuji if you'll follow me your room is next door"

With that they both leave me alone in my new room and I'm blown away. It's enormous. A wide open space, double bed, wooden floor, bed side tables a large wardrobe and the view from the two small windows is fantastic. From my windows I can see the see and coast line, a small village judging from its side lights up along the shoreline and I can see the runway lights light up. A witch with silver hair takes off and fly's high into the clouds reaching and disappearing in them in a blink of an eye. So that must be this bases night patrol witch. She's the first person other than Minna that I have seen since arriving here, hopefully she's nice as so far the only person I've met here hates me. I can't tell what she looks like other then she has short silver hair that sparkles in the moonlight, it's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

* * *

><p><strong>Diary Entry 3<strong>

Last night as I lay awake on top of my bed there was a soft knock on my door. I was deep in thought trying to figure out how to win over Minna when the knock came and it had repeat itself several times to the point where it became a light thud before I even responded. Reluctantly I get up of my be (The comfiest bed in the world in my opinion) and walk to the door opening it to find Yoshika stood there wearing only a light blue nightdress. Her eyes refuse to meet my and her head hangs low, I can tell she's nervous by the way she fidgets but with her hands. We stand here for a few minutes until she finally takes a deep breath and asks. "Um Shinji… can we talk?"

"Yeah sure" I tell her still half awake and half lost in thought. "Do you want to come in or talk in the hallway?"

"I would prefer to… to come in… if that's ok" She replies still sounding nervous. I nod and stand aside so she can enter she walks over to my bed and sits on the edge of it keeping her eyes locked on the floor instead of me.

"Couldn't sleep" She nods. "Yeah I couldn't sleep ever" I tell her. "It's doesn't feel right my bed that is it's just too soft and then there's Minna, I have to find a way to win her over or else her constant staring will burn me to ash"

"I… I'm scared" Yoshika admits as I sit down beside her. I instinctively wrap my arm around her shoulder to comfort her and I can almost feel the fear in her body lessen as she starts to relax. "I just can't kill a Neuroi and I'm not sure if I ever will be able to. I'm afraid the others will find out and call me weak, pathetic and hate me for it"

"They won't hate you and I'm sure they'll all be friendly" I reassure her giving her shoulder a quick squeeze and showing her my best attempt at a comforting smile. "Once they see your healing magic and the strength of your shield they'll forget all about the fact that you can't kill a Neuroi"

"Yeah I guess" Yoshika replies still not sounding overly confident but a bit less nervous and fearful then before. "And once they taste my cooking they all love me"

"That's true you won over a lot of witch haters on the Akagi with your cooking so there's no reason why you can't do the same here"

"Thank you Shinji. This really helped" Yoshika says with a smile on her face as she gets up. "I'll be going now as I believe we'll both need our sleep for tomorrow so you should get to bed too"

"Ok mum" I say as I throw myself onto my bed acting more like a child then a teen but it has the effect I was hoping and makes Yoshika giggle so I follow up by saying in a childish voice. "Goodnight"

"Goodnight" She replies quietly shutting the door behind her.

* * *

><p>The next morning I'm awoken to the loud sound of bugles and the heavy knocking on my door, it can't be Yoshika so hopefully its Sakamoto as I still haven't thought of a way to win Minna over. I slowly and groggily stubble over to the door. I've only had four hours sleep at the most, the bed was just too soft that I couldn't sleep. By the time that I get to the door and open it the knocking has been going on for some time now. I can't believe how hard these doors are to open in my sleepy clumsy hand, I could barely turn the handle and it took me an embarrassing amount of time to figure out I was turning the handle the wrong way. When I open the door the person I've feared the most to be on the other side is stood there looking impatient and giving me her burning stare.<p>

"Get dressed and don't keep me waiting" Minna orders not sounding happy with me.

"Yes ma'am" I reply still half asleep while rubbing my eyes.

I reclose the door and head to my wardrobe pulling out a white air force uniform Sakamoto gave me last night but unfortunately she failed to provide me with a pair of pains saying. "You won't need them any more now that you're here" so I have to leave my legs bare only covering up my man parts with a white pair of boxers. I don't know how witches can walk around like this fall time as just looking at myself in the mirror is enough to make me die of embarrassment. I'm dreading the moment I reopen my door and come face to face with Minna dressed like this and I know if I do die of embarrassment she'll probable just watch. When I emerge from my room I find her still in the same spot and after giving me a quick look over she walks off telling me to follow.

"Isn't Yoshika coming with us?" I ask as we continue to walk.

"No, she's been with Sakamoto since sunrise" She answer quickly clearly not wanting to waste any more words then she has to on me.

"So how many people are in this squad?"

"Twelve included me and you" Minna says before stopping in her tracks and turning to face me. Unlike her pervious stares that burnt me this one sends chills down my spine and makes every ounce of warmth leave my body. "If you try anything, hurt any of my girls or get them knocked up then I will personally make you suffer and regret the day you did it"

I only nod in response too afraid to answer or respond in any other way she seems to accept my response and turns round continuing to lead me through the hallway. We don't speak for the rest of the walk and she doesn't even look my way, I could have ditched her and run off somewhere and she'll never know. Finally she stops in front of a double door where Sakamoto and Yoshika are already waiting for us, inside the room I can hear voices and it sounds very energetic in there with plenty of shouting and more laughing then I've heard in my entire life. Sakamoto and Yoshika are wearing the same cloths as always but their faces have changed when they see me. Sakamoto looks me over and seems impressed but Yoshika goes as red as a tomato in the face as soon as her eyes see my crotch.

"Morning Kato" Sakamoto greets me unfazed at my appearance.

"Morning Sakamoto, Yoshika"

"Go… Go… Good… Morning" Yoshika stutters out.

"I have feeling this might be a problem" Minna comments gesturing to my crotch.

"I agree with you so can I go put some pants on" I agree hopping that they will say yes.

"Unfortunately you can't because you need bare legs to use a Striker" Sakamoto points out dashing my hope of wearing pants again. "I'm sure the others will get used to it"

"I suppose they'll have to" Minna says as she walks past me and opens the door.

We following Minna into the room which turns out to be some kind of briefing room with several rows of desks, a podium at the front and a blackboard behind it, sunlight pours into the room from four large windows. The room is filled with girls from all over the world and instantly all their eyes fall on me, they are probable on Yoshika too but I can't help but feel their eyes are mainly on me. I think I must be red in the face from the embarrassment of wearing no pants and knowing all these girls can see my underwear. I calm myself down though once I notice they aren't wearing pants is well, it's strange how right and normal things feel when everyone wears no pants. Sakamoto takes a seat at desk in the front row while Minna stands behind the podium, Yoshika and I stand side by side at the blackboard in full view of everyone.

"Good morning everyone I have a quick announcement" Minna says as soon as she takes a quick look around the room most likely making sure everyone is present. "As of last night we have two new recruits Major Sakamoto brought to us from the Fuso region, Sergeants Yoshika Miyafuji and Shinji Kato" She pause for a moment as all of the witches gasp probable at the fact that me a male is joining their squad. "Since they got here late last night I suggest you get to know them and Lynne since you're the same rank can you get them settled and show them around"

"Uh… Yes ma'am" A Britannia girl in some kind of school uniform says not sounding that happy with her given task.

"Good now then" Minna says pulling out two boxes and placing them on the podium. "All your documents, insignia and clothing are in here"

She missed something out, on each box is a pistol and she failed to tell us about something so dangerous. I can see that they each have a magazine already inserted so it blows my mind that she'll forget to tell us something about them. Yoshika also noticed the pistols only her reaction is different from my, I'm confused as to why Minna didn't mention them where as Yoshika is horrified about being given a gun and doesn't look pleased at the sight of the gun on her box. She immediately moves to her box and picks up the gun, even she holds it like she hates it only griping the pistol with thumb and index finger.

"Um I won't be needing a gun" Yoshika says holding the gun towards Minna for her to take.

"While I hope not but you should keep one just in case you do" Minna replies in a cheerful voice.

"No thank you" Yoshika says and Minna seems to know her answer won't change and takes the pistol. In the background I can hear Sakamoto laugh her famous laugh and say something but it's too quiet for me to hear.

"I take it you'll have no problems with firearms Kato" Minna says as she hands me my box and pistol which is a lot heavier than I expected.

"No I don't have a problem" I tell her before she turns round to face the others barely giving me a chance to answer.

"That's it!" A blond girl shouts out all of a sudden for some reason as she storms out of the room. Judging from her uniform and accent I'm guessing she's from Gallia and a noble from the way she looks and moves as she rushes out., her movements are too lady like for her to be a commoner.

"Well I certainly didn't expect that" Minna says was the doors slam shut behind the blond girl. "You are all dismissed"

All of the girls instantly stand to attention and Minna gives them all a quick look over before she leaves the room along with Sakamoto leaving me and Yoshika alone in a room full of strangers. In less than a second two of the girls pounce on us, a small girl who looks about twelve with long black hair in twin tails runs up behind Yoshika and before I can warn Yoshika the girl gropes her causing Yoshika to squeal at the sudden shock of what's happening. I move to help her but a large gingered haired girl hugs me from behind, she must have a colossal chest as all I can feel is her breast pressed into my back. I'm glad I have a sister and friend that hugs me a lot otherwise I'm sure I'd be rock hard by now and with only boxers on there's no hiding it.

"So?" The girl asks and her hot breath hits my ear sending a shiver down my spine that I'm sure she could feel.

"Consolation prize" The black haired girl says releasing Yoshika's breasts from her grasp.

"Lynne's are so much bigger" I hear some say behind me but with the ginger hugging me I can't see who said it.

"So where was Minna hiding you?" The ginger girl on my back asks in a seductive whisper and now it really is taking all my will power not to get hard.

"Nowhere Sakamoto practically recruited me from a hospital bed" I answer as I lean back into her. If she's trying to make me hard then there's no reason why I can't play along and have some fun with her so I say in my next line in my best seductive voice. "Even though I'm sure you would have had an easier time trying to recruit me"

"Um well… I… I'm sure I would have" She replies loosening her grip on me and add that to her stutter then I know I've got the advantage now. She wasn't expecting me to reply like that and now she doesn't know how to react, time to capitalize on it. "You would have come with me in an instant if I was recruiting you"

"Yes and I would have been with you for a month" I say spinning around so our chests are pressed together, mine hard with muscles hers soft with flesh and her cheeks start to redden. I move my hand to her cheek and as soon as it makes contact I can feel her breath hitch and her skin shudder. "Sharing a room and maybe a bed"

Seconds later we release each other and burst into laughter at what just happened. "Charlotte E. Yeager" She introduces herself extending her hand towards me. "But you can call me Shirley"

"Shinji Kato" I say as we shake hands and I found out just how strong hers could be as she literally crushes mine causing a smirk to appear on her face.

"I have a feeling we'll get along just find" She replies as the girl that groped Yoshika jumps into her chest. "And this is Francesca Lucchini"

"I'm Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen" A white haired girl tells me as she stands beside Shirley holding a sleeping girl with such pretty silver hair that I instantly know she was the one I saw flying up into the clouds last night. "This is Sanya V. Litvyak, she's normally on night patrol and sleeping so be quiet because if you wake her up you'll have me to deal with"

"Duly noted" I say see the glare in her eyes tells me she's not joking and will make me pay for waking up Sanya.

"Hey I'm Erica, Erica Hartmann" A small bold Karlslander says practically jumping on my back, thankfully her breasts aren't as big as Shirley's so I hardly feel aroused at all by them being pressed into my back. I'm thanking god for that fact alone as I don't know how much longer I can keep my erection down, it's a miracle that it hasn't grown already. "You're really big and strong can you carry me around?"

"Stop being lazy Hartmann you have two perfectly fine legs of your own" A brown haired Karlsland points out as she pulls Erica off of me nearly ripping my uniform in the process before extending her hand towards me. "Gertrude Barkhorn or Trude for short it's nice to meet you"

"Likewise and I think I heard of you two before" I say shaking her hand.

"You might of done Erica and I are in the paper a lot" Trude tells me and then it clicks, they're both aces and the top two aces in the world destroy more Neuroi than anyone else.

Um Mr. Kato if you're ready I'll show you two around the base now" A girl says nervously, her names Lynne if I remember and Yoshika's already to go waiting beside the Britannian girl.

"Yeah let's get going, Lynne right?" I reply extending my hand to her.

"Yes Lynette Bishop but everyone calls me Lynne" She says with a small smile shaking my hand.

"Well ladies I'll see you later" I say turning back around to face the other girls.

* * *

><p><strong>Note<strong>

**I wish you happy new year and hope you enjoy this chapter, continue to enjoy this story and my other stories.**

**Let me know what you think of my stories and if there is anything you want changed or to happen as I'm always open to ideas and suggestion also let me know if you spot any mistakes, I try to catch them but some slip through so let me know if you spot any and I will correct them as soon as possible.**

**I want to make my chapters for the new year the best yet and with your help I know I can do so please review and let me know your thoughts so I can achieve this goal.**


	7. The First Day

Lynne leads me and Yoshika out of the room and I can sense how nervous she is around me, he eyes always look away from me and even though she's speaking and acting friendly to me I can tell by her voice that she rarely speaks to men and probable never seen on in their underwear like me before. I can see her hands fidgeting at her sides and they only fidget more the close I get to her. I give her a few steps lead on me which eases her and let Yoshika take the place beside her. Yoshika seems friendly and happy beside Lynne even though I keep catching her eyes locked onto Lynne's breasts, Lynne seems unaware of this and continues to act nervously around me but friendly towards Yoshika but a bit too formal for my Liking. She keeps using our ranks and last names only, her questions and answers to are questions are short telling us only as much as we need to know. Looking at her a bit more closely it becomes clear she's not happy and it doesn't look like she's been happy for a long time.

"Hey Lynne what do people do around here for fun?" I ask hopping I don't become as depressed as her during my stay here.

"Um well there's a library on the third floor and a lounge where there' a piano" Lynne answers think about it for a few seconds. "Sanya sometimes plays it and it's so beautiful that it brings nearly every to tears"

"I take it its Trude and Sakamoto who are the only ones that don't cry" I guess using my limited knowledge of these girl's.

"Yes you right" Lynne says glancing quickly in my direction only to just as quickly look away. "So have you both memorized you room locations?"

"Yes" Me and Yoshika both say simultaneously as Lynne stops in front of a door.

"Um this is my room so, um if there's anything you need you can normally find me here" Lynne says resting her hand on her bedroom door.

"No way! That means we're neighbors" Yoshika says sounding over the moon by the news, clearly surprising Lynne and nearly deafening me.

"Oh is that so" Lynne replies as we move on to Yoshika's room. Lynne opens the door for Yoshika and steps aside letting her through. "It looks empty"

"Yeah that's because I don't have anything yet" Yoshika responds like it's no big deal.

"I'll catch up to you two in a minute" I say from the doorway as the two girl's walk into the room. "I'll just drop this stuff off in my room"

"Ok see you in a minute then" Yoshika says cheerfully and Lynne only nods in response.

I step out of my room hearing Lynne say. "I know a good place to go get furniture and everything, it's a bit far but I'll be happy to take you sometime" But I can't hear Yoshika's response as I've stepped into my room by the time she replies. I quickly dump the box on my bed not taking much care with it but the is an another story, I take great care with it first making sure the safeties on then placing it gentle in the top draw of my night stand with the barrel pointing away from my bed. As soon as it's safely stored away in my draw I quickly leave my room shutting the door gentle behind me and rejoin Yoshika and Lynne who are just leaving Yoshika's room.

"Are you ready to move on?" Lynne asks me as soon as I rejoin her and Yoshika keeping her eye line well above my waist.

"Yep lead on" I reply with a nod of my head.

Lynne does just that leading us straight into the dining hall and kitchen, Yoshika's eyes light up at once when she sees the kitchen. I didn't think people could move as Yoshika does when she runs into the kitchen looking like a kid in a candy store as she looks over every inch of the kitchen. Lynne follows her only not as fast leaving me alone to admire the room. This place looks more like a palace than a military base, large wooden table with matching chairs that have red cushions to sit on, a stone fireplace, the walls are lined with expensive looking artwork and the windows give a perfect view of the Channel.

I walk into the kitchen and find Lynne watching Yoshika who's never been happier, she's jumping around the kitchen touching and examining everything. I can see why Yoshika loves this kitchen so much as its fit for a king, wooden counters matching the table, two ovens and a large sink. Pots and pans fill a long shelf that spans the length of one of the walls. Knowing Yoshika her heads probable filling with ideas for dishes she can make in here and after eating her cooking on the Akagi I can't wait to see what she can cook in here. Finally after I'm sure Yoshika has worn herself out she finally looks are way and approaches.

"Wow I bet I can make a lot of great stuff with all this" Yoshika says still overjoyed at the kitchen.

"I take it you're a pretty good cook" Lynne replies making Yoshika smile.

"I don't know if I'm good or not but I like it when people it my food" Yoshika tells her selling herself short.  
>"Come on Yoshika you know you are a good cook" I say. "Remember what I told you about the food on the ship"<p>

"Yeah you told me that I won over the crew of the Akagi with my food" Yoshika says as her smile turns to one of pride. "I guess I'm pretty good then"

"I can't wait to taste you food" Lynne says shyly. "So shell we continue with the tour?"

"Yes please" Yoshika answers.

The rest of the tour passes in a blur, first Lynne takes us to the library which is running low on books but Lynne assures us there's more books and some of the witches has them in their rooms. Second she takes us to the bath only allowing me to enter once she's sure no one's inside, the bath is huge just like the ones back home in Fuso and a giant statue of an angle stands in the center of the bath with water pouring into the bath from its base. After that she leads us outside and to the firing range which is at the back of the base, a hill and concert wall are at the fare end of the range and the targets are about one hundred meters away, the targets themselves are wooden circles with more circles drawn on them. Sakamoto and that blonde girl that stormed out are here in the middle of a conversation, while the majors talking the blonde girl is really only stood there drooling and agreeing to whatever Sakamoto says. I'll have to remember to come back here and practice with my pistol as it only occurs to me now that I don't know how to shoot a gun, I'm sure Sakamoto will teach me or Trude will as she strikes me as a girl who knows how to use a gun. Once we leave the range Lynne leads us back to the front door where there's some kind of commotion. A group of reports are gathered round the front doors taking pictures of Trude and her lazy friend Erica, the flashes light up the door way and seem too bright to be really. I've never seen someone having their picture taken before and I have no idea how those two Karlslander's can stand there and not blink or shield their eyes.

"Lieutenant Hartmann's kill count reached two hundred recently and it's been like this since the press heard about it" Lynne says sounding more like she's talking to herself then to us. "I'm sure in a day or two they'll be gone"

"I didn't take her for anything but a lazy slacker" I say aloud. "I guess I learned to never read a book by its cover"

"Well she may be lazy when she's not in combat but when she is in combat she's nearly unbeatable" Lynne says not sounding as impressed as I thought she would saying those words. "Captain Barkhorn next to her has shot down two hundred and fifty"

"Wow I guess everyone's got a high kill count around here" Yoshika says and in an instant I can tell it's the wrong thing to say as a new layer of depression settles over Lynne.

"No not really only those two and commander Minna who's shot down over one hundred and sixty, without them I'm sure this place would have been conquered by the Neuroi" Lynne replies and it's clear that she's even more depressed now by the tone of her voice. "On top of that they all have really special magical abilities that allow them to protect many people's homelands at the same time" Lynne sighs before continuing. "All I seem to do is get in the way"

"I'm sure that's not true" Yoshika tells her trying to cheer her up.

"Yeah if you were getting in the way then you wouldn't be here right now" I add getting a weak smile in response.

"Well if you say so" Lynne says turning around and walking straight into the wall. "I'm sorry"

"It's ok its only wall" I tell her trying not to laugh. "Are you ok?" I ask as soon as she turns round seeing the blood dripping from her nose.

"Oh um" Lynne replies touching her nose noticing the blood. "Yeah I'm ok it's not broken"

"Let me help you with that" Yoshika says taking a step towards Lynne.

"What are you…? Oh" Lynne asks as Yoshika start to heal her. "You can use healing magic"

"Yeah but I'm not as good as my mother and grandma" Yoshika replies as she finishes her spell and the blood stops coming out of Lynne's nose. "All done"

"Thank you" Lynne says with a smile on her face. "Well let's get on with the tour"

Lynne leads us back inside through a side door and leads us into an elevator. The elevator takes us up to the top floor it squeaks and groans with the task making me think it will fall with us inside plunging us to our death. Finally it stops after a two minute long nerve wracking climb and we can step out which I can't do quick enough, I almost sight with relief as I step out vowing never to set foot in that death trap again. Now that we are here Lynne still leads us higher using a stone stair case that wraps round the wall in a spiral, she takes us up two more floor before she opens a door letting in a strong warm breeze.

We step out onto the top of the tower where only a waste high wall stops us from falling over the edge. Up here the wind is strong and Lynne appears to be having trouble seeing from what I can tell, her hair is constantly blown into her face acting as a blind fold. Despite the strong wind I have to admit that I like it up here, the view is spectacular I can see the whole way across the Channel to the coast line of Gallia. High above us seagulls saw through the sky riding the air currents and breeze making it look fun and easy, I can't wait till my Striker Unit arrives so I can join them.

"Wow the views amazing" Yoshika almost shouts and I couldn't have said it better myself as there is no words that could describe the beautiful view we are looking at.

"This is the highest point in the base" Lynne tells us as she finally manages to pin her hair down and away from her eyes.

"Is this whole island the base than?" I ask looking down on Sakamoto training with her sword which is the only way I can tell it's her looking like an ant.

"Yes we're just of the Strait of Dover" Lynne answers pointing to the Gallian coast line. "And over their Is Europe… Unfortunately most of it is in enemy hands"

Well that damped my mood and Yoshika's is well as she slumps down on the railing upon hearing that news. Looking back out across the Channel it's hard to believe this is the front line, it just too peaceful, too quiet and completely the opposite as what I thought it would be like. I was expecting ruined buildings and a scorched country side, instead I find myself in a castle fit for a king which shows no scares of war and if the witches weren't stationed here I'd struggle to believe there's a war raging on.

After another hour Lynne has finished are tour and we make our way to the kitchen for a late breakfast. All of our stomachs' are growling so loudly at this point that if we did continue the tour we wouldn't be able to hear each other speak. By the time we arrive everyone other witch is already there eating and the sight is enough to make my stomach hurt from hunger. Only a few faces turn to look at us as we enter, Sakamoto and Trude who nod in greetings as their mouths are full and the blonde girl and Minna who give us a cold stare. While Minna only gives me a cold stare but the blonde girl for some reason is giving one to Yoshika, I'll ask her later about because I'm too hungry right now.

"Get some food before it gets cold" Sakamoto orders and I'm about to call her ma'am again only she stops me dead in my tracks. "Don't even say it Kato or you'll regret it, we have training after this meal"

"Understood" I reply as I walk over to a counter with a sack of plants and a selection of fruit, toast, several flavored jams and cups of tea.

"Glad to see your learning" Sakamoto tells me before she goes back to her meal.

I quickly grab a plat placing two slices of toast which I cover in strawberry jam and an apple on top of it, I hold the plat in on hand and take a cup of tea in the other. Turning around I spot and take a free seat in between Eila and Trude and bite into my toast the moment my ass hits the chair. The toast is perfect, not too burnt for my liking and the jam is the most delicious jam I've ever tasted.

"So have you found your way around this place yet?" Shirley asks from across the table.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure I won't get lost" I answer and get a sigh in response which surprises me until…

"Nice try Yeager but no one's as dumb as you and gotten themselves lost" Trude says making Shirley go slightly red in the face.

"Yeah well if I hadn't of gotten lost then we wouldn't have found our rat problem before it began" Shirley tells her returning to her confident self.

"That's true" Lucchini says with her mouthful spitting crumbs all over the table in front of her.

"Don't talk with your mouthful" The blonde girl says with clear disgust in her voice.

"Relax she's not hurting anyone" Shirley tells her rubbing the top of Lucchini's head.

"Well I'm done now anyway" The blonde girl says as she once again walks out in a sulk.

"Is something wrong with Perrine?" Minna asks as the dining halls doors slam shut, Perrine so that's her name.

"Who knows" Shirley replies leaning back in her chair. "It's probable her time of the month"

And with that everyone finishes their meals in silence and I help to collect the plates and take them to the kitchen. As soon as I step out of the kitchen I know I'm in for a horrible time, Sakamoto's smile scares me, Lynne is looking nervous and so is Yoshika for the matter though I don't know why. The way Lynne is fidgeting with her fingers, the look in her eyes and the way she's slightly shaking tells me that Sakamoto's training sessions are a living nightmare. I was right about the training being a nightmare. As soon as we set foot outside Sakamoto orders the three of us run to the end of the runway and back, repeatedly.

"Miyafuji, what do you see in front of you?" Sakamoto shouts at us as we run.

"The sea!" Yoshika shouts back.

"Kato what's beyond the sea?"

"Europe!" I answer.

"And Lynette what's the current saturation in Europe?"

"It's being occupied by the Neuroi!" Lynne shouts back.

After what seems like endless laps Sakamoto without giving us a seconds rest she forces us to do sit ups, followed by pushups. By this point I'm pretty tied but nothing like Yoshika and Lynne who are half dead, they are drenched in sweat, breathing heavily and barely able to do a single pushup. They surprise me though by managing to do another five pushups before collapsing. I was tempted to join them and pretend to be as tire they are but after the time I've spent with Sakamoto on the Akagi I'm sure she'll see right through my act.

"Well I guess it's time for a break" Sakamoto mercifully says but her mercy disappears at what she says next. "Kato since you're not collapsing ten more pushups"

"Yes ma'am" I reply instantly retreating it.

"Make that thirty"

"Ok" I say as I continue with the excise. I did bring this on myself.

Ten minutes, ten minutes that's all the time we get to rest before Sakamoto brings us into the hanger to continue are training. Inside the hanger the blond girl Perrine I believe she's called and Trude are waiting for us. Perrine is checking over four Striker Units whilst Trude is holding two MG 42's at least that's what I think they are called. They both walk over to us when they notice us, Perrine is still giving Yoshika a cold stare but it quickly disappears when her eyes are laid upon Sakamoto.

"Lynette, Miyafuji we'll be doing Striker training with Perrine" Sakamoto says as we reach the two other girls. "Kato since your Striker isn't available your be doing weapons training with Barkhorn"

"Ok" I reply finally starting to learn my lesson about calling her ma'am.

"Good now let's get started" Sakamoto says with a smile growing on her face. "Lynette, Miyafuji, Perrine get into you Striker Unit's Barkhorn, I'll leave Kato in your hands and don't go easy on him"

"Got it" Trude responds picking up both machine guns. "Here you'll be using this on" She tells me handing me one of the machine guns which doesn't weigh as much as I thought it would. "That's one of my guns so I want it back in the same condition it is in now"

"Understood" I reply shifting my grip on the weapon so I'm more comfortable.

"Also take one of these ammo boxes" She says as she picks up an ammo box.

Once I get a grip on the ammo box and are confident that I won't spill the bullets inside all over the floor, not only embarrassing myself but I'm sure cleaning up those bullets would be a pain in the ass and take quite some time. I follow Trude to the firing range were we put the ammo boxes down and I place my borrowed machinegun. I set up the rifle so the barrel of the gun rests on top of the sandbags making the firing positions for this range. Once that's done I load the belt of ammunition into the rifle with a lot of help from Trude and look down the sights towards the target. The wooden circle target looks small through the iron sights of the gun, it's so small that I can barely see it and I'm expected to hit something so small.

"Your hurt yourself shooting like that" Trude warns me as she places one of her hands lightly on my back and the other on her machinegun tucking it tightly into my shoulder. "There and lean into it otherwise the butt of the gun will slam into your shoulder possibly dislocating it, trust me that's something you don't want to go through"

"Yeah I dislocating my shoulder before" I tell her wincing at the memory. "Trust me I have no intention of going through that again"

"Then I don't need to describe how painfully it is, now release the safety switch and try and hit the target" She says taking a step back. "Just so you know the MG fires fully automatic at twelve hundred rounds a minute so only fire in short burst"

"Short burst got it" I reply placing my index finger of the trigger. I gently squeeze the trigger sending a burst of fire much larger then I wanted down range, they strike just above the small wooden circle kicking up dirt from the hill behind. "Fuck"

"That's not bad for a first time I took Erica a week to get that close to the target" Trude tells me making me feel a little better. "Now aim a bi low and exhale before firing"

"Ok" I say and this time when I fire I follow her instructions. This time my bullets hit the target just left of the center tearing a hole in the wooden target. "I did it"

"Not bad but you still got a way to go before you as good as me" Trude says as she looks at the target.

"Please I can probably outshoot you in my sleep" I brag look back over my shoulder at her.

"As if" Trude replies with a shake of her head. "I'm a prod soldier of Karlsland and only another Karlslander can match me"

"Then prove it" I say causing a momentary look of confusion to show on her face. "Afraid your loss"

"I never lose" Trude tells me with her expression changing from confusion to determination. "Especially not to some as green as you"

"Are you going to prove it then?" I ask and in response she picks up the MG she brought over, takes to one knee and she fires several bursts into the targets down range hitting each one dead center.

"Like I said" She says as she puts her gun down. "I never lose"


	8. My First Striker and Second Battle

Letter from home

Dear Shinji

Shinji I hope you are well, your sister Miyo as well as myself miss you. I know you are doing your country a great service and I hope you're still looking into your father but it pains us knowing you're so far away and in such danger. I heard the fleet you were on was attacked in route to Britannia and I hope you're alright, Miyo nearly lost it when she heard the news marching down to the port and demanding the sailors there tell her what happened and if you are ok. In the end they told us you were fine and even inflect serious damage onto the Neuroi. Is that true Shinji, did you really do that?

Back home things are normal and it's hard to tell there's a war on. All of the war ships have left port and it's so quiet now. It's peaceful to without you and your friend Darrin running riot and causing trouble, speaking of Darrin he came by and told me he's joining the army too. He said he wanted to follow his father's footsteps and enlisted in the armored division. He just left for Britannia and said he'll try and see you when he arrives. Please write back and let us know you ok Shinji, I would love to hear from you and your sister Miyo misses you.

I hope to hear from you soon

Love Mum

* * *

><p>Reply<p>

Dear mother and Miyo

I made it to Britannia in one piece even though the Neuroi almost stopped me and yes I did inflect some damage on it but I don't know how much only that I didn't destroy it. I didn't see who destroyed it in the end but all that matters is it is dead now.

I've meet so many ne people since arriving here but unfortunately I don't get alone with all of them yet. Minna my commanding officer is cold and distance barely doing anything but freeze me with her ice cold stare, Perrine a noble from Gallia is a pain in the ass constantly bitching about everything I do and it's even worse for Yoshika that girl I left with. Everything Yoshika does is wrong in her eyes and she always makes a big scene overreacting about the littlest thing. But on the brighter side Yoshika and I have become good friends, I also made friends with a Britannia girl called Lynne and a Karlsland girl call Gertrud or Trude. Lynne is quiet and polite but constantly understating herself, she has an amazing ability to control her bullets in flight and charge them with magic increasing the damage they do. She is an expert sniper is well but all she sees herself as is a nuisance and someone who gets in the way. Trude on the other hand has brought down two hundred and fifty and is really nice but a bit bossy and very strict.

Shirley a Liberion witch is friendly but a little too friendly always hugging me and her little companion Lucchini gropes every girl in sight so I wouldn't recommend Miyo comes and visits me here. Erica Hartmann the second highest scoring ace here and Trude's wingmen is a lot lazier then you would expect from someone with such a high kill score of two hundred but she's friendly and fun to be around. Eila and Sanya are the other two witches here, I hardly see Sanya because she's on night patrol or speak to Eila since she's constantly guarding Sanya like her life depended on it but they both seem nice.

Sakamoto the women who recruited me is nice outside of training but strict and relentless in training constantly working us to the point of collapse. I know this training will save my life in combat but still it feels like torture. I'm not flying yet as my Striker hasn't arrived so when she trains Yoshika and Lynne in flying I'm taken by Trude to do some target practice, I'm getting very good but I'm still no match for Trude.

I miss both and I hope to hear from you again

Love Shinji

* * *

><p>After placing the letter in the "Out Going" box sent up at the base entrance I head for the dining hall to grab some breakfast. That's one thing I can't fault the military on is the postal service, its quick and efficient. When Lynne was giving us the tour and came to this point she said it's this good mainly because it's good for morale. Everyone uses this box and there's always mail going in and out of the base, Minna normally hands out the incoming mail after dinner. The daily routing is always the same, breakfast, running, pushups followed by sit-ups, sniping practice then lunch, after lunch Sakamoto takes Lynne and Yoshika for Striker training and I go with Trude to the firing range for target practice usually ending in a shooting competition which Trude always wins. Then dinner, two hours to relax and then lights out.<p>

I walk into a full room where everyone's preset except for Sanya. Everyone's sat round the table and by he looks of it I'm just in time as Lynne and Yoshika are just leaving the kitchen with a tray carrying a large bowl of food and enough smaller bowls for everyone. I silently take my seat between Trude and Eila as the pair start to hand out the bowls. Everyone seems in a good mood this morning even Minna is despite her usual cold stare she gives me, I've grown used to her stares and they rarely do they affect me although on occasion she stares at me with such intensity that I can't breathe. Erica is half asleep with her head down on the table, she's the only person here who looks like she wants to be somewhere else apart from Minna who looks like she wants me to be somewhere else. Lucchini is a lively as ever practically jumping on the table and licking her lips as Lynne and Yoshika start to dish up.

"Good morning Shinji" Yoshika says as she pours what appears to be Zosui in my bowl.

"Thanks" I reply picking up a fork, normally I would eat with chopsticks but there are none at the base.

I take my first bite and know I'm right, it is Zosui and it's just as good as Miyo's. Yoshika must have cooked this as I doubt Lynne could cook a Fuso dish this well and after tasting so much of Yoshika's cooking on the Akagi I recognize the taste of her cooking. Once they've done serving everyone they head back to the kitchen this time returning with a tray carrying a cup of tea for everyone, a bowl of sugar cubes and a small jug of milk. Once they've done handing out the drinks they finally join us and everyone starts to eat, everyone but Lucchini who started to stuff her face before Lynne even finished serving her.

"Kato I have some good news for you" Sakamoto announces halfway through the meal. "Your Striker arrived last night"

"Great" I say generally happy that I'll get to join the birds I saw during the tour soaring high in the sky ridding the wind and going where ever they choose.

"Also to make up for the time you missed training Barkhorn will be training you all morning on the Striker and after launch you will be joining Yoshika, Lynne and I for more Striker Training"

"What Striker model did he get?" Shirley asks.

"A Mitsubishi A6M4 Type 0 Model 41/42 like my own" Sakamoto replies and I can't help but feel Perrine's glare fall upon me, I have the feeling she would kill to get a chance to fly the same model Striker as the Major. "Although Kato's unit has been modified so it will fit him" She answers before turning back to face me. "Your weapon arrived last night is well, it's a Type 97 automatic cannon"

"So we have another sniper" Erica comments still barely awake as she slowly eats her food, by the look of it she's struggling not to land face first in the porridge.

"Yes and from what I've seen of his abilities he'll be the perfect fit for long distance support" Sakamoto tells everyone and out of the corner of my eyes I can see Lynne's head drop.

After breakfast I follow Sakamoto and Minna straight to the hanger with everyone else following on behind keen to see my Striker Unit, Erica's the only one not keen to see as the only reason she's coming along is because Trude's dragging her by the collar. When we enter the hanger my Striker is easy to spot, it's much larger than the other Strikers and it looks a lot cleaner but I'm sure that will change soon. My Striker in its stand is just begging for me to put it on and fly. Excitement, excitement floods my body and mind as I walk up to it picturing myself flying with the birds through the clouds. It's a shame I'll have to use it for war.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Sakamoto asks walking up behind me. "Put it on and take flight, Barkhorn you too"

"Yes ma'am" Trude replies moving to her own Striker, oddly Sakamoto doesn't mind being called ma'am by her, most likely because Trude would never agree to not calling her ma'am.

"I'm on it" I say jumping into my own Striker.

It's strange wearing a Striker. When I put my legs in they slid in easily but now it feels like the Striker has tightened around my legs making it impossible for it to detach itself. I've seen the other fly enough times to guess what to do next, I close my eyes and try to focus on my magically power sending that energy into the Striker. In less than a second I can hear the Striker start and feel the thing raise me off the ground I open my eyes to see myself floating about a meter above the ground and the others staring at me, some with looks of amazement, Erica who asleep on her feet something I never thought possible until now and Minna who looks slightly annoyed for some reason.

"Good job Kato we all had to have some walk us though the startup but you, you seem to have a natural talent for this" Sakamoto praises me and now that annoyed look on Minna's face makes sense, she wanted me to fail. To fail so she could send me back home or to some other unit so I'll be out of her way. "Now follow Barkhorn out of the hanger and she'll be in charge of your training"

I only nod in response as I slightly lean forward and slowly make my way out of the hanger behind the much faster Trude who seems to rocket out of the hanger. Once out in the open though I easily catch up but I have the feeling she let me, once together we fly up into the clouds. The cloud doesn't feel like I thought it would, I imagined a cloud would feel soft and fluffy but no they feel wet, damp and cold. We fly straight through the cloud and emerge on top, the sun light hurts my eyes at first but my eyes soon adjust and all I can see is a deep blue sky and the sun in the distance.

"Shinji how are you holding up?" Trude asks as we level out.

"Fine" I tell her. "I'm still getting a feeling for flying but so far so good"

"Good" She says. "Let's start with some simple maneuvers"

We fly for two hours straight practicing simple turns, dives and finally Trude teaches me a basic maneuver that she says could save my life. When being shot at turn into the fire to make yourself as small as possible followed up with a Barrel roll attack to bring down the attacker which I pick up rather quickly. She also makes it clear how important it is to work with and obey your wingmen in combat as working as a team. We practice another maneuver soon after that this one requiring me to work as a team with Trude. It's called a Sandwich and it involves one of us turning into the enemy's fire well the other while the other breaks off and finally we will line up with the enemy between the two of us. After I've perfected this maneuver we decide it's time to head back, on the way back we practice forming Defensive and Combat Splits which by the time we return I have perfected. When we touch down Minna is waiting for us in the Hanger with her hands crossed over her chest and her usual cold stare watching me land.

"Kato I need to see you in my office" Minna says as I reach my docking station. "Trude Kato will need his rifle this afternoon so can you check it and make sure it's in working order"

"Yes ma'am" Trude replies jumping out of her Striker.

"Hurry up" Minna impatiently says as I exited my Striker more slowly than Trude and as my last foot leaves the unit I nearly loss my balance and land face first on the ground. When I finally do manage to free myself and walk up to Minna I can tell she's unhappy, her arms are still crossed, her eyes are more narrow and her look shows her blatant dislike for me. "Follow me"

"I'm right behind you" I mutter as she turns around.

"Drop the attitude" Minna tells me looking over her shoulder.

My day was going so while until this red head turned up, all well let's get this over with. She leads me straight to her office without saying a word. It impossible for me tell what this is about. Am I in trouble? Am I being praised for something? Or am I just being taken away to somewhere where she can kill and discard my body without alerting the others? Once in my office and we're both sat at her desk Minna hands me a note. It says "Watch your back". I drop it as soon as I read it looking at Minna hopping she was the writer but from the look on her face I know that's not true.

"Who wrote this and who is it for?" I ask looking into her cold eyes and just for a moment I see them soften at my concern but they quickly grow cold once again.

"I don't know who wrote it but it was found nailed to your door" Minna tells me and it may just be me but I have a feeling she may be concerned for me.

"Then it's probable someone playing a joke on me" I say after exhaling a long deep breath of relief, that's probably it, a joke. A bad joke by one of the girl's.

"Unfortunately that's not possible" Minna replies with a shake of her head. "Everyone but myself and Sanya was training outside, Sanya's asleep and I was doing paper work at the time. Sakamoto already confirmed that no one left her sight during this time, Sanya would never do something like this so it's safe to say she's not involved and if you look at that stack of paper work…" Minna tells me pointing to a pile of papers nearly as tall as myself stacked next to her desk. "I was too busy to do it myself"

"Then who could have sent it?" I ask trying to figure it out myself.

"We as I heard from the Major you already know how much people hate the witches and found out first hand on the Akagi" She's right about that, I can still feel the bruises from where those sailors beat me. "So the list of suspects is too long and it will be difficult to narrow it down just by this note alone"

"So you want me to just sleep with one eye open from now on" I say picking the note up from the floor where it fall and placing it on the desk. "Watch my back like the note says"

"Yes" Minna tells me. "As long as the culprit is on the loss then you need to be on guard"

"Understood" I reply.

"Good, now would you please show yourself out I got work to do" Minna tells me as she places a meter high stack of papers on her desk.

I leave on that note shutting the door behind. Well that lasted long. The soft concerned Minna disappeared quickly and went straight back to her cold usual self. I guess at least I know now that she isn't a cold heartless bitch at all, well just towards me she is, deep down she is a kind nice person like the Major said. I wonder who she lost to make her so cold towards me. I head straight to the dining hall and grab something to eat. There's a selection of sandwiches to choose from that Shirley and Lucchini made. Lucchini tells me well we eat that she made my sandwich herself and wondered who it tasted, I told her it was delicious with a pat on her head which brings a smile to her face before she jumps into Shirley's chest. Shirley's chest seems to be a second home for the kid as I can't remember a day where she hasn't had her face buried between the Liberion breasts at least twice. After lunch Sakamoto takes me, Lynne and Yoshika for training where we are joined by Trude and Perrine, we assemble in the hanger facing the Major who tells us about our training instructions.

"Today we'll be doing target shooting from are Strikers" Sakamoto tells us. "Shirley will be at the edge of the runway shooting clay pidgins into the sky for us to shoot. The formation will be Lynette and Perrine, Barkhorn and Kato and Miyafuji will be with me. Lynette, Kato you will keep a distance of five hundred meters from the targets and pick them off from there"

"Yes ma'am" Everyone replies including me, in her eyes I can see that she's not happy with our reply but she doesn't let it show on her face.

"Now take off and assemble above the…" Sakamoto begun to order but the alarm rings out drawing all of our attention. "Everyone to the briefing room now!"

We run to the briefing room and arrive just as Minna does, together we enter the room where the rest of the witches are despite Sanya and Erica only being there in sprite as they are both asleep with Erica's head on the desk and Sanya's on her black pillow. Everyone takes their seats as Minna walks to the front of the room stopping in front of a map showing the Britannian coast the 501st are responsible for protecting. She points to an area on the map before she speaks.

"A single Neuroi has been picked up on radar approaching the base from the Gallia Hive" Minna tells us before removing her finger from the map. "It's approaching from the south and heading straight north towards us"

"But it's too soon" Perrine says standing up from her seat.

"Yes it is" Minna replies before continuing. "The Neuroi is advancing at a steady rate and at a much higher altitude than normal, major you have command"

"Ok Barkhorn and Hartmann will take point, Shirley you and Francesca will follow with me and Perrine bringing up the rear" Sakamoto tells everyone as she stands up. "Everyone else will stay behind in reserve"

"You know the plan Strike Witches move out" Minna says bring the briefing to an end, everyone is on their feet in an instant and moving to where they need to be. "Good luck out there"

I head straight to the window and sit there so I'll have a good view of the witches taking off. Looking up at the sky the weather has improved quite a bit since I was up there. The damp clouds that I flew though earlier have passed over us leaving a crystal blue sky above without a cloud in sight, the sun is high in the sky and shining brightly. A perfect day and the Neuroi had to ruining it by attacking us.

"Hey Mr. Kato" A small voice says and I turn to find Lynne stood behind me.

"Please just call me Shinji" I tell her as I turn round to face her hearing the witches take off.

"Ok Shinji um well how come you don't look scared?" Lynne asks and looking in her eyes it's hard to miss.

"Because I'm not" I reply. "I have faith that the group that just took off can handle the situation without our help so there's no need for us to go into battle"

"I guess you right" Lynne says not sounding one hundred percent sure, seconds later Minna runs up to us proving me wrong.

"The Neuroi was a decoy, the real one is approaching fast at low altitude" Minna tells us. "Kato I need you to come with me and Eila to destroy it"

"I want to go too" Yoshika almost shouts jumping to her feet.

"You can't" Minna replies turning round to face her. "You don't have enough training, the only reason Kato is coming is because Barkhorn says he's a natural in a Striker and an excellent shot"

"But I…"

"But nothing" Minna says like she's scolding a kid. "You need more training"

"I'll go with her" Lynne calls out leaving my side to join Yoshika's. "If the two of us work together then we'll be ok"

"Fine but you two stay to the rear and if I order you to retreat you will obey without question" Minna replies with a sigh probably realizing she can't win this argument before turning back to me. "Kato since you haven't been trained with you rifle you will be using an MG 42 instead"

A minute later the five of us are airborne flying in a V formation, Minna is taking the lead with ma and Eila in the next row followed by Lynne and Yoshika. We fly steadily away from the base and once it starts to shrink into the distance a small black dot appears on the horizon and I instantly know what it is. Neuroi.

"Neuroi sighted dead ahead" Eila calls out confirming the objects identity.

"Ok Lynne, Yoshika stay here and only engage it if it gets past us" Minna orders. "Kato, Eila follow me and we'll intercept the enemy"

"Yes ma'am" We all reply.

I can see out of the corners of my eye Yoshika and Lynne come to a halt and start to hover above the Channel, before I can wish them luck we're out of ear shot and climbing higher into the sky. They should be fine, we'll get this son of a bitch before it reaches them. Once Minna is sure we're above the incoming Neuroi we level off and head straight for the enemy. The closer we get the more of it I can make out, it's fast leaving a trail of air in its wake, the Neuroi itself isn't that big, it's long with four small wings sticking out of the front and the only red spots on the Neuroi is on its nose. It's practically defenseless and should be easy prey for us.

"Open fire!" Minna orders and all three of us opens up with on it with our machineguns but all three of us fail to score a hit. This thing is fast, too fast for us to hit. "Drop down behind it and match its speed"

"Yes ma'am" I reply and Eila gives her a thumbs up in response.

We dive down behind it and try to keep up, this thing is really fast. We catch up to it but only by pushing our Striker Unit's to the limit, our Strikers make a racket and smoke in the effort to keep up. I'm no expert but even I know we won't be able to keep up this speed for long. Our window to take this bastard down is narrow and if we fail then it's up to Yoshika and Lynne. I don't know how they will handle the situation and if they will even be able to stop. All I can do is pray, pray that we can stop this thing before it reaches them. We fire again once we're in range, our bullets strike into the Neuroi's rear doing little damage but causing a lot of scratches. Finally our bullets hit something vital as the Neuroi screeches in pain and a large chuck to fall off. We have to scatter to avoid being hit by the large broken off object but when I get back on course I'm speechless, the Neuroi who was once right in front of me is now disappearing into the distance.

"It broke apart" Eila says watching the Neuroi disappear into the distance.

"Wait that isn't normal for a Neuroi?" I asks turning to face her. "We didn't just blow that part off?"

"No the Neuroi shatter into fragments when destroyed not huge chunks like that" Eila answers.

"Lynne, Yoshika the enemy's heading your way" Minna informs them over the radio. "This is you moment do not let it get passed you"

"Isn't there anything we can do?" I ask flying closer to Minna.

"No, we're never be able to catch up" Minna answers without even looking my way. "They are our last chance of…" A loud bang interprets her and judging from that sound I'm guessing its Lynn's anti-tank rifle. "Our last chance of stopping it"

Another bang quickly followed by another rips through the air, I can't tell what is happening and how well Lynne is doing. All I can do is hope for the best. We advance as quickly as we can pushing our Strikers to the limit which at this point are starting glow red hot with the effort. I'm starting to get worried, I haven't heard the loud bang of Lynne's rifle for a while. They our all right, I know they are. There must be some reason why Lynne's not shooting, there has to be a good reason. Just as I start to worry the loud bang of Lynne's rifle breaks the silence and silences my worries, it's not just one bang but five in quick succession. A minute later a large shiny silver cloud comes into view that sparkles in the sun light, it looks like a destroyed Neuroi to me but I'm not one hundred percent sure.

"Is that Neuroi fragments?" Eila asks as we fly closer.

"Yes" Minna says soundly like she's proud of someone before quietly saying to herself. "You did it Lynne"

"But where are the two of them?" I now ask looking around and failing to spot them.

"Down there" Eila replies giggling and pointing to the water below. I follow her finger and spot Yoshika and Lynne laughing and hugging looking like they are having the time of their lives.

* * *

><p><strong>Information<strong>

**Zosui** is a soup containing rice stewed in stock, often with egg, meat, seafood, vegetables or mushroom, and flavoured with miso or soy. Known as _juushii_ in Okinawa. Some similarity to risotto and Kayu though Zosui uses cooked rice, as the difference is that kayu is made from raw rice.

**Type 97 20-mm antitank rifle:** The Type 97 20-mm antitank rifle is a single purpose "hard hitting"[5] Japanese anti-tank weapon used during the Second World War.

**Combat spread:** The combat spread is the most basic of maneuvers used prior to engagement. A pair of attacking aircraft will separate, often by a distance of one mile horizontal by 1500 feet vertical. The fighter with the lower altitude becomes the defender, while the wingman flies above in "the perch" position. The defender will then attempt to lure their opponents into a good position to be attacked by the wingman

**Defensive split:** A pair of fighters encountering one or two attackers will often use a defensive split. The maneuver consists of both defenders making turns in opposite directions, forcing the attackers to follow only one aircraft. This allows the other defender to circle around, and maneuver behind the attackers

**Sandwich:** A sandwich maneuver begins with two defenders flying line-abreast (side by side at the same altitude), with typically about a mile of lateral separation. When an attacker maneuvers onto the tail of one aircraft, the defender will make a sharp turn away from the wingman. At the same time, the wingman turns in the same direction as the defender. When both fighters turn 90 degrees, they will come into single-file alignment with each other, "sandwiching" the attacker in the middle. Because the attacker is distracted chasing the defender, this allows the wingman to maneuver onto the attacker's tail for an easy shot.

**Break:** Spotting an attacker approaching from behind, the defender will usually break. The maneuver consists of turning sharply across the attacker's flightpath, to increase AOT (angle off tail). The defender is exposed to the attacker's guns for only a brief instant (snapshot). The maneuver works well because the slower moving defender has a smaller turn radius and bigger angular velocity, and a target with a high crossing speed (where the bearing to the target is changing rapidly) is very difficult to shoot. This can also help to force the attacker to overshoot, which may not be true had the turn been made away from the attacker's flightpath

**Barrel roll attack: **The counter to a break is often a displacement roll called a barrel roll attack. A barrel roll consists of performing a roll and a loop, completing both at the same time. The result is a helical roll around a straight flightpath. The barrel roll attack uses a much tighter loop than the roll, completing a full loop while only executing 3/4 of a roll. The result is a virtual 90 degree turn, using all three dimensions, in the direction opposite of the roll. Rolling away from the defender's break, the attacker completes the roll with the aircraft's nose pointed in the direction of the defender's travel.


	9. Reunion

I slept like a baby last night, the battle and training of the previous day left me more tired than I thought so as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out in seconds. But here just like back home I can't get to lay in because as the sun rises trumpets play making me jump off my bed in shock. At least I'm awake now. I move to quickly get myself dressed and mange it just in time before there's a knock on my door. Its probable Yoshika knocking. But no I open the door to find Minna stood there not looking too pleased.

"What did I do this time?" I ask in a sleepy voice. "I don't think I've been awake long enough to cause a problem"

"You not in trouble" Minna quickly tells me obviously wanting this conversation to be over with as quickly as possible. "But an invitation arrived this morning inviting you to Captains Wilford award ceremony this afternoon and a plane will arrive in an hour to take you their" Minna tells me handing me the invite so quickly you would have thought the paper would have burnt her. "How do you know him by the way?"

"I'm friends with his son Darrin" I answer looking at the letter. "I thought he got awarded the medal months ago"

"He was meant to but the Neuroi attacked and the award ceremony got postponed" Minna says before looking me over. "Change into your dress uniform I believe that one includes pants so don't forget to put them on"

"Yes ma'am" I reply before yawning and walking back into my room.

I slowly get undressed and dressed into my dress uniform, it's still white but it looks a lot nicer then my regular uniform and comes with a cap and a pair of matching white pants. The boots I normally ware are replaced by a pair of black shoes, my rank is shown on my shoulder and the symbol of the 501st is sewn onto the top of each arm. The uniform fits nicely and the material it's made from is so much softer than that of my other uniform. Once I'm dressed and look myself over in the mirror I leave the room deciding at the last minute to put my neckless on, the one Miyo gave me on the last day of school. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to wear it so I tuck it under my uniform shivering as the cool metal touches my skin. I exit the room and find Minna still standing where I left her, her eyes instantly scan my body inspecting my uniform.

"Ok you look good enough" Minna tells me after she finished looking me over. "Try not to do anything stupid while you're there because if you do anything wrong then I'll be blamed"

"Understood" I reply but I fear she hasn't heard me as my stomach rumbles louder than in has ever rumbled before while I said that.

"You better get some breakfast" Minna says turning away from me. "Unless you want to embarrass yourself there that is"

I follow a few steps behind her towards the dining hall, I get the feeling that she would like to hear something embarrassing to have happened to me. We both arrive in the dining hall just as Trude arrives dragging Erica by the collar. Erica looks like she's still sleeping, at least I hope she's sleeping as Trude's tight grip around her collar looks like it may be suffocating Erica. Minna seem to notice this too and stops in her tracks, I'm too busy watching Erica that I nearly walk straight into her back only stopping at the last moment. Minna looks back over her shoulder giving me a look that says watch it before she turns back to Trude and Erica.

"Trude are you sure Erica can breathe like that?" Minna asks as she nods the tight hold Trude has on Erica's collar.

"Oh um…" Trude says looking back and looking like she's only just noticed what she's doing. "I um… I don't think so" Trude answers letting Erica go, Erica slumps straight to the ground and instantly starts to snore, you can feel a huge wave of relief wash over everyone present at the sound. "It's ok she's just sleeping"

"Let's good" Minna tells Trude before she stands over Erica. "Erica can you get up"

"Twenty more minutes" Erica moans before she rolls over on her side facing away from everyone.

"No Hartmann you can't sleep there and it's time to get up!" Trude shouts at her moving round so she can see Erica's face. "Now get up!"

"Ok thirty more minutes" Erica sleepily replies as she rolls onto her stomach.

"No Hartmann get up now!" Trude once again shouts.

"Erica Yoshika made breakfast this morning" I gently tell her and in a flash she's on her feet and wide awake with a big smile on her face.

"Yeah let's go!" Erica cheers as she runs into the dining hall.

"How did you do that?" Trude asks me as she stares in disbelief watching Erica run into the dining hall. "I've never got Erica to do that once since I've met her"

"I saw a sailor on the Akagi do this when a group of men didn't won't to get up" I tell her. "It worked the so I thought it would work now"

"I'll have to remember that" Trude says as she walks into the dining hall.

Minna gives me on quick look before she also enter the dining hall, I follow her in and find everyone but Sanya already here. Minna and I take our seats just as Yoshika and Lynne come in with food that smell delicious and makes my mouth water, also it makes my stomach growl but thankfully I think everyone is too distracted by the food to notice. They quickly behind to serve everyone breakfast, today its bacon, beans and eggs that nearly make me drool just by their sight alone. I quickly become aware of the feeling that everyone here is staring at me, well everyone apart from Minna, looking around the room quickly confirms it.

"Hey Kato why are you all dressed up?" Sakamoto finally asks after a few seconds of silence made bearable by the smell of breakfast.

"I've been invited to an award ceremony later" I answer.

"Why are you getting an award so soon?" Lucchini asks me sounding like and excited kid as she speaks with her mouthful.

"You shouldn't speak with you mouthful" Shirley scolds her getting a small moan in reply.

"He isn't being awarded anything" Minna says not looking up from her plate. "He's just been invited as a guess"

"I see" Sakamoto replies before taking a second to look me over. "So when do you leave?"

"In about an hour" I tell her.

"Well try not to get you uniform dirty" Sakamoto says before returning to her own food.

"Yeah it will be a shame since it looks so good on you" Shirley says nudging me with her elbow.

"Yeah that really suits you" Erica adds and I can almost feel Minna tense up upon hearing those two.

"Thanks" I reply shrugging of those comments to hopefully calm Minna down before she arranges my death, she really doesn't want me sleeping with these girls.

I begin to finally eat my breakfast which is delicious, the bacon is one of the best things I have ever tasted, I've never had bacon before an already just from one bite it's already my favorite foods. The egg also tastes great, Miyo used to make me eggs on occasion and these one's taste nearly as good as hers and the beans taste great to. Yoshika and Lynne are really great cooks and if they were joined in the in the kitchen by Miyo then they could easily open the best restaurant in the world and never will they receive a single complaint. I have to remember that idea and pitch it to them late, you never know after this war I could be on top of the world thanks to their cooking.

"Hey Shinji" Erica quietly says probably not wanting Minna or Trude to overhear. "Can you take me with you?"

"He doesn't have plus one" Minna quickly points out.

"And you have cleaning duty today Hartmann" Trude adds.

"A training session with me too" Sakamoto also adds and her training session seems to scare Erica the most and is the main reason she wanted to go, I can hardly blame her as I would rather fight a shark then train with the major. "You've been slacking a lot recently so it will be a double session"

"Sorry Erica" I say as she slumps back into her seat. "Maybe next time"

"I'll be dead by next time" Erica whines.

"No you won't Hartmann" Trude tells her making her slump further into her seat. "A little hard work never killed anyone"

"But there's always a first" Erica counters bringing the situation to an end.

After breakfast I wait in my room until Minna comes to tell me that the transport plan is making its approach. I walk straight to the hanger and arrive just as the plane is touching down, I recognize the make of plane taking me to the ceremony it's a Liberion made Douglas C-47 Skytrain with RAF markings instead of Liberion. I watch the plane touch down and taxi towards me, once it's come to a halt I follow Minna to the waiting plane arriving just as a rea door opens.

"Remember to behave yourself" Minna warns me before she walks back inside the hanger.

I step into the plane and am greeted by a familiar face, he's different from the last time I saw him and looks like he changed a lot. His green eyes are the only thing about him that hasn't changed, his light brown hair is shorter and he's gained some muscles, he was already strong but now he looks twice as strong as before. He smiles when I see him and we walk up and hug each other, it's been a while since we have seen each other but it feels like a life time ago and he looks like a different person, I probably do to but the changes happened so slowly that I probable didn't notice them. My best friend Darrin Wilford in the flesh standing in front of me and giving me a hug.

"It's good to see you again Darrin" I say as we finish our hug. "It's been a long time"

"I know right" Darrin replied. "It seems like so much has changed. It's good to see you too by the way even though I envy you"

"In what way?" I ask as we take our seats.

"You get to be surrounded by girls all day and I've seen a picture of the unit you're in" Darrin answers with a cheeky grin on his face. "I know that there are some lookers in there"

"Yeah well the Unit commander doesn't seem to like me and she is…" I pause as the engines star up and the plane starts to move. "She is really against me pulling and I get the feeling if she had her way I wouldn't be allowed to even look at the witches" I reply shaking my head at the thought of how Minna tensed up at Erica and Shirley telling me how good I look today. "I have the feeling that if I do pull someone then I most likely wouldn't survive the night"

"You shouldn't let that stop you" He tells me as the plane takes off. "I know I wouldn't"

"And that's why I won't be found dead in a ditch somewhere" I comment and we both laugh as the plane climbs high into the sky. "I'm still waiting for a salute by the way"

"I'm off duty today" Darrin tells me but he does give me a salute. "Don't expect one at every meeting we have, I'm only a rank behind you sergeant"

"Of course you are corporal" I reply returning the salute before we once again burst out in laughter at the faces we are starting to pull. "I really is good to see you again"

"Yeah I bet you still haven't found anyone to replace me"

"I don't think I can" I tell him. "You're a real odd ball"

"Says you witch boy" Darrin replies pushing my shoulder. "I guess that makes you odder"


End file.
